VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (7-3) take their five-game win streak on the road to start the new year against the UFV Cascades (5-3) on Friday, January 3 at 6:00 p.m. PT and Saturday, January 4 at 5:00 p.m. PT at the Envision Athletic Centre.
The 'Birds are now fourth in the Canada West, while the Cascades are in seventh place after winning five of their last six games. The two teams haven't met in conference action since 2017, but played an exhibition game in October of 2018 that the T-Birds won 74-57.
Fourth-year forward Keylyn Filewich will be looking to continue her impressive first half of the season, as the Winnipeg native was recently named Canada West Athlete of the Month. Filewich is averaging a double-double (19.3 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game) while topping the conference in rebounds per game and holding the second highest field goal percentage (56.8).
Last Action
UBC last took to the court over a month ago when they swept the Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-5) at War Memorial Gym. The 'Birds took game one 76-54 thanks in part to 23 points and 10 rebounds from Filewich, as UBC outscored the Pronghorns 52 to 32 in the paint and capitalized on 16 fast break points - compared to Lethbridge's two. Game two was much more tightly contested, as Gabrielle Laguerta hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the narrow 58-55 victory. Filewich posted her second straight double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
UFV split their last series with the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg - falling 78-63 before bouncing back for a 76-65 victory to cap off 2019. Taylor Claggett totaled 41 points and 21 rebounds over the two-game set for the Cascades, while Maddy Gobeil and Deanna Tuchscherer each notched a double-double in the victory.
