The UBC Thunderbirds came up just short in a thrilling 72-68 defeat at the hands of the Trinity Western Spartans in their home opener at War Memorial Gym. In the first competitive Canada West action under new head coach
Erin McAleenan, the young T-Birds fought till the final whistle in a matchup that saw both teams trade buckets from start to finish. Third-year guard
Hailey Counsell led the 'Birds with 24 points and added five rebounds, while Kianna Wiens had a dominant 29-point performance for the Spartans in the victory.
"There was a lot of nerves heading into this game," said Trinity Western head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "On the road at UBC…this is never an easy gym to play in so we're just really excited to start the season off on a positive note."
Azalya Forstbauer notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards in her 'Birds debut, while
Emily Martindale added 13 points in the loss. Jolene Vlieg tallied 16 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans and Nicole Fransson added twelve points in the hard-fought win.
"They just kept battling," said Jean-Paul. "There were so many lead changes in that game. Our ability to stay composed and get back into it is just a great sign of resilience for us. We play Victoria tomorrow night, so we needed to get tonight so I'm really excited we got this game today."
Emily Martindale opened the scoring for UBC and the Spartans answered with a three as the two teams settled into the flow of things after the lengthy layoff.
Katie Hartman's first bucket as a 'Bird trimmed the Spartans lead to 11-8 midway through the first quarter before
Kate Johnson cut straight to the rim for a tough finish and a 12-11 UBC advantage. Counsell and
Ryann Kristmanson connected on a give-and-go off an inbound to give the T-Birds their largest lead of the game at 14-11 as the home team held a 16-14 edge heading into the second quarter.
Counsell continued where she left off in the first quarter with a quick two on the 'Birds first possession of the second and each team continued to trade buckets. Forstbauer earned her first basket with the T-Birds on a strong step-through to give UBC a 28-27 lead with 3:57 remaining in the half. The Spartans evened it up at 28-28 with a Vlieg free throw and retook the lead on a pair of Jayden Gill layups at 32-28. Wiens drained her second three as time expired to lift the Spartans to a 37-30 lead at the half.
Johnson knocked down a smooth pull-up jumper from the elbow to make it a four-point game at 38-34 before tying it at 38-38 with a layup that forced a Trinity Western timeout early in the third quarter. Wiens found Vlieg in the paint for an easy lay-in and a one-point edge late in the third, but
Olivia Morgan-Cherchas sank two free throws to put the 'Birds in the lead again at 51-50. The Spartans capitalized on a T-Bird turnover and put Vlieg on the line for two and took a narrow lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter started off as evenly matched as the previous three before Counsell nailed a three that got the crowd on their feet. Wiens dropped a triple of her own to silence the home fans at 65-62, but the rookie Hartman scored her first trey as a Thunderbird to tie it at 65-65 with three minutes remaining. Forstbauer knocked down a free throw to make it 68-67, but Fransson scored a tough jumper in the paint to give the Spartans a 69-68 edge with 33.8 seconds on the clock. Trinity Western defended well out of the UBC timeout and regained possession with 10.2 remaining. Johnson intentionally fouled Wiens – who hit both free throws for a 71-68 lead with 7.7 left, but UBC was unable to score on their final possession and fell short of their first win of the season.
The Thunderbirds are back in action on Saturday, October 30
th, to host the University of Victoria Vikes at 5:00 p.m. (PST), while the Spartans travel to the island to face the Vikes Friday night at 6:00 p.m. (PST).
