The UBC Thunderbirds (3-5) return to War Memorial Gym for their final series before the winter break, as they host the Trinity Western Spartans (4-0) for a two-game set on Friday at 6:00 p.m. (PST) and Saturday at 5:00 p.m. This weekend's action will be UBC's first competitive Canada West test on home floor in nearly a month after two road trips and a bye week, where the 'Birds earned two wins and dropped two tight decisions in a gritty string of games that each came down to the wire. UBC and TWU last met to open the regular season on October 28^th, when the Spartans outlasted the T-Birds 72-68 in a thriller at War Memorial Gym.


 
"We have been right there in every game we've played so far this season, and we continue to improve our focus and execution in end of game situations," said UBC head coach Erin McAleenan. "We have had a few different players step up in games depending on where our advantage was, so it has been great to see a balanced attack. We have shown stretches of very good basketball, so we continue to focus on getting out of our lows quicker and getting scoring opportunities from our defense. I'm really proud of our overall effort and can't wait to see our hard work and commitment to the game plan pay off."
 

The T-Birds are coming off a hard-fought series split with the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves last weekend in Prince George – falling 81-77 in game one before responding with a 68-66 victory the following evening. Fourth-year guard Kate Johnson put up strong back-to-back performances for the 'Birds – shooting a season-high 60% from the field in game one with 22 points, 6 rebounds and four steals, before tallying 18 points with 6 boards in game two. Emily Martindale had a season-high 17 points and 8 rebounds for UBC in Saturday's win over the T-Wolves, while forward Dina Strujic grabbed 21 rebounds over the two-game series – including a T-Birds career-high 12 boards and a season-high 10 points in game two.


 
Trinity Western will be well-rested coming into the road rematch at War Memorial Gym, as the Spartans last took to the court on November 13^th and have had two consecutive bye weeks. In just their second series of the season, TWU swept the University of Victoria Vikes at home in Langley to remain undefeated through four conference games (three of which were against the Vikes). In a 53-52 game one win, Nicole Franssen had a monster 17-point, 16-rebound double-double, while Jolene Vlieg led the Spartans with 23 points en route to a 68-62 victory in game two.

"Trinity has had a very good start to the season going 4-0 so we expect them to come in confident and ready to battle," added McAleenan. "They have 3 starters who are all averaging 15 points per game so they've had a very balanced attack and do a good job of moving the ball to find the best match-up. Trinity has also only had to play us and Victoria, so we expect them to know our personnel well and challenge us to get to our counters. I think it's a good match-up for us and I look forward to seeing how we come out to defend home court again."
 
Tickets for this season are free, but you must register online to access them. For more information and ticket availability check here.
 
You can also watch all the action live on Canada West TV.