VANCOUVER – Guard Gabrielle Laguerta made eight baskets from beyond the three-point line to tie the single-game school record in the UBC Thunderbirds' 104-74 loss to the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide Tuesday at War Memorial Gymnasium.
 
She ties the high mark set by Lisa Nickle against Calgary on Jan. 30, 1993.
 
"I was feeling confident from the training we did all summer, and all the shooting we worked on in the offseason with my teammates," said Laguerta. "I was also encouraged by the confidence my coaches gave me to choose the right shots, and to feel comfortable taking them without second guessing. That's a big part of it."
 
Laguerta went 8-of-11 from the field against Alabama, with every attempt coming from long distance. Her 24 points, matched by forward Keylyn Filewich, paced UBC's offensive output.
 
Filewich also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots. Guard Jessica Hanson had nine points, eight assists, and six rebounds.
 
"One of the things Deb told us going in was that she wanted to see our grit and our character and I think she was proud of how we played today," said Laguerta.
 
The Thunderbirds went ahead early as a Filewich layup put the home side ahead by nine points, 17-8, halfway through the opening quarter. The visiting Tide closed to three points before back-to-back triples by Laguerta restored UBC's advantage. The T-Birds led 27-20 after the first quarter, and went up by 11 on another Laguerta three early in the second.
 
However, Alabama ended the quarter on a 17-0 run to take a 52-39 lead into halftime.
 

A back-and-forth third period ended 25-23 in favour of the visitors, with Laguerta providing another long-range bucket to cut the UBC deficit to seven. The Crimson Tide, though, used its depth to build on its lead through to the final whistle.
 
UBC made 31 of 68 shots from the field (45.6 per cent), and was nearly as successful from long distance, going 10 of 23 (43.5 per cent).
 
Alabama 51.2 per cent from the field (43-84), and 40.9 per cent on three-point attempts (9-22).
 

UBC hosts Kent State (Ohio) on Sunday, Aug. 11 at 3 p.m.