VANCOUVER – A roller coaster affair that included a spirited comeback fall just short saw the UBC Thunderbirds edge the Winnipeg Wesmen 76-70 in the final regular season contest for both squads Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
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The T-Birds extended their winning streak to eight consecutive games to finish third in the Canada West regular season standings which grants them a bye through to quarterfinal action. Meanwhile the Wesmen finished in sixth spot and will host the 11th seed Manitoba in a play-in game to open the post-season.
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Leading the way for UBC was
Keylyn Filewich recording a double-double including a game high in both points, 21 and rebounds, 11.
Hailey Counsell added 13 points while graduating senior
Jessica Hanson chipped in with 10 points and seven assists. Setting the tone for Winnipeg was first-year guard Anna Kernaghan with 18 points and eight rebounds while Jessica Dyck added a clutch 14 points. Mikayla Funk recorded a double-double pouring in 12 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.  Â
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"I thought we got off to a really hot start and created a lot of offence from our defence," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband following the game. "Then I think Winnipeg made a great adjustment and we were quite flat offensively and had to work for everything from then on. Credit to Winnipeg, they competed very hard and made it tough on us and we were lucky to score some key buckets down the stretch to extend a little bit of a lead."
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Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
Meanwhile on the other side, Wesmen head coach Tanya McKay was very pleased with the battle level and resiliency of her young group.
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"Tremendous, we're incredibly young, if you look at the kids on the floor, we have a rookie point guard and she (Anna Kernaghan) led the way as the high scorer for our team and that's a testament of the future of this program. We did a great job tying the game and taking the lead and made some mental errors down the stretch but great learnings." Â
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After reducing their deficit from 22 points after the first quarter to just five points after three frames the Wesmen were looking to complete the comeback by keeping up the pressure entering the final period. Dyck continued to make a statement draining an early three pointer to pull within two points at 62-60 while moments later an inside layup from Jillian Duncan evened the score at 62-62. The teams traded baskets until Winnipeg briefly overtook UBC thanks to a Mikayla Funk basket to make it 68-66 but Filewich would answer back down the stretch for the hosts to breathe a little easier with back to back buckets to put UBC up 73-68. With under a minute to go
Kate Johnson followed up by hitting a back breaking jumper in the lane as the shot clock expired to go ahead 75-68 for the T-Birds who'd go on to secure the 76-70 victory.
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The Thunderbirds jumped out to a great start on home court thanks to some blistering shooting including an impressive 73 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point land.
Maddison Penn drained the first three-pointer of the contest while Filewich followed up converting the hoop and the harm for a 10-4 advantage. Minutes later it was the Wesmen hitting from long range with the first of their two in the quarter courtesy of Deborah Nkiasi to pull within 14-9 but Hanson immediately responded from beyond the arc for the 'Birds and a 17-9 lead. The three-point parade would continue for UBC as
Gabrielle Laguerta would nail two consecutive rainmakers in the final moments to take a 36-14 lead into halftime. Leading the way for the hosts in the first frame was Counsell with nine points followed by Filewich with seven and Laguerta with six while for the Wesmen it was spread out scoring with four players scoring three points each.
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In the second period, the Wesmen worked hard and were effective in cutting into their 22-point first quarter deficit and decreasing it by eight points thanks to strong shooting from Kernaghan and Lena Wenke. Kernaghan hit four of her five field goal attempts including a three-pointer for a high of 11 points while Wenke remained perfect from field goal range hitting all three of her attempts, improving to four for four on the evening and counting seven points. On the other side it was Filewich leading the way with eight points including the final two baskets from inside the paint before the buzzer to give the hosts a 50-36 halftime advantage.
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Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
The third frame saw the Wesmen continue to battle and chip away at their 14-point deficit with help from back to back buckets from Mikayla Funk and Jessica Dyck to pull within eight points at 54-46. The 'Birds would gain some brief breathing room thanks to consecutive three-pointers from Penn and Hanson to go ahead 62-48 but led by five more points from Dyck, Winnipeg would answer back by scoring the next nine points to close out the quarter trailing by just five points at 62-57. Dyck stepped up in the third quarter scoring her first nine points on the evening while Hanson added five more for the blue and gold.
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The T-Birds finish the regular season with a 16-4 record to finish in third spot in the Canada West standings and will enjoy a bye into quarter-final playoff action. Meanwhile the Wesmen finish at 10-10 on the campaign good for sixth spot in the standings and they'll host the Manitoba Bisons in a play-in game to open the post-season next week.
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