VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds fed off the energy of a boisterous Courtside festival crowd and capitalized on efficient shooting en route to an 81-62 win against the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds run of form continued in earning a seventh straight victory while also halting the Wesmen's winning streak at four games in the second to last game of the Canada West regular season.
Keylyn Filewich led the way with a double-double pouring in a game high 15 points and 12 rebounds while
Hailey Counsell chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds. For the Wesmen it was Robyn Boulanger setting the tone matching the game high 15 points while Anna Keraghan added nine points.
"I think we had a good start and had another surge at the end of the second quarter," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband. "It gave us a cushion going into the half and from that point on it kept building through the next twenty minutes. We also shared the ball well, with the way Winnipeg defends it's important that you catch the ball ready to read and we found some opening's in some unexpected places and we were able to capitalize on it."
The T-Birds fed off the home court atmosphere in jumping out to an early 9-2 advantage capped off by Counsell finishing a three-point play after being fouled while finishing a drive to the hoop. The early separation caused Winnipeg to call it's first timeout and the Wesmen responded as a result scoring the next five points highlighted by a Wenke three-pointer to pull within 9-7. The T-Birds would answer with a three-pointer of their own from Hanson before Counsell would take over with another converted hoop and harm to make it 14-11 before draining consecutive three-pointers as part of her quarter high 12 points to give the hosts a 21-17 lead. The 'Birds would increase their lead to 25-18 by the end of the first quarter thanks to an efficient 50 percent overall shooting from the field, Hanson chipped in with five points for the blue and gold while Wenke set the pace for the visitors with nine points.
The second quarter saw the deep threats continue for both squads but leading the way was the Wesmen's Boulanger en route to a high of nine points thanks to nailing three of her four three-point attempts including her second of the frame to pull within five at 38-33. Answering from long range for the T-Birds with a deep three-pointer of her own was
Gabrielle Laguerta with her first of two to extend UBC's lead to 43-33 ahead of Jessica Dyck responding from beyond the arc for Winnipeg to make it 43-36. Not to be outdone as the final seconds ticked down in the quarter it was Laguerta again, stroking her second three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer to restore the hosts 10-point lead at 46-36 heading into halftime.
The third frame saw the T-Birds increase their lead to 14 points highlighted by a
Kate Johnson midcourt steal and finishing off a fast break to take a 57-43 advantage and causing a Wesmen timeout. Later it was Filewich completing a three-point play as part of her game high seven points in the quarter after being fouled in the paint to go up 59-45. UBC would lead 65-51 after the third period, Johnson chipped in with four points for the T-Birds while Jillian Duncan led the way for Winnipeg with six points.
Maddison Penn added six points in the final frame helping the T-Birds increase their lead to 19 and an 81-62 win at the final buzzer. With the victory UBC remains in a fourth-place tie with the Fraser Valley Cascades who defeated the Regina Cougars on Friday night while the Wesmen are in a sixth-place tie with Victoria after the Vikes defeated the Trinity Western Spartans.
The rematch goes Saturday, February 8 when the teams meet for the final regular season game of the Canada West regular season with tip off at 5:00 o'clock from War Memorial Gym.
