The UBC Thunderbirds couldn't overcome a slow start in a 75-52 defeat at the hands of the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night at War Memorial Gym. With the loss, the 'Birds drop to 3-6 while the Spartans remain undefeated at 5-0 in Canada West action after two straight weeks without a regular season game.
 
"It's really been about seeing this as a developmental process instead of time off," said TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul after TWU made the most of their return to competitive action. "We made sure we could work toward more meaningful minutes for our roster. We have two years' worth of rookies who have very little game experience, so we challenged them to be ready for this weekend. I thought our first group did a great job of creating that opportunity for them and they came in and played with confidence. Rest shouldn't affect your encouragement, your communication or your confidence, and when we focussed on those things the game took care of itself."
 
Hailey Counsell led the Thunderbirds with 13 points, Kate Johnson added 12 points, and Olivia Weekes and Dina Strujic each had six rebounds and two steals in the loss.


 
Nicole Fransson racked up 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half for the Spartans – finishing with 19 points and 13 boards. Jayden Gill had 15 points with five rebounds and five steals, while Kianna Wiens put up 10 points and eight rebounds in the win.
 
Wiens opened the scoring with a triple before Fransson made two free throws and Gill cut straight to the rim for an unimpeded layup and a 7-0 lead. Wiens hit another jumper to lift the Spartans to a 12-point advantage before Gill added to the lead in transition at 16-2 TWU midway through the first. Weekes got the 'Birds back on the board with a long two, and Johnson brought UBC within 10 on back-to-back buckets before Strujic made it an eight-point game at 20-12 TWU heading into the second quarter.
 
Hailey Counsell followed up her own rebound early in the second to make it 27-18 Spartans and knocked down a three on the next possession to bring the 'Birds within six, but the T-Bird run was short lived and Fransson restored the ten-point cushion for TWU before Kailey Reimer drained a long two to take the Spartans into halftime up 37-23.
 

?? WBB | At the half it's @TWUSpartans with the 37-23 lead over @UBCWBBall at War Memorial Gym pic.twitter.com/yFfhxM4G81

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) December 4, 2021

Jolene Vlieg hit a three for Trinity Western before Gill slashed in for a layup and a 45-27 lead in the third. The visitors continued to pour on the pressure and went on a 10-0 run halfway through the frame before Emily Martindale made a layup to stop the run at 55-31 TWU, but the Spartans held a 59-37 lead after three quarters.
 
Weekes drove to the rim for a tough hoop and the harm early in the fourth quarter, but costly turnovers continued to be an issue for UBC in the fourth as they couldn't make up the deficit.
 
"Every team will make playoffs," said Jean-Paul. "For us it's about making a statement heading into the Christmas break. We just want to put ourselves in a position to be 6-0…not think too much about being 6-0."
 
The two teams will square off in a rematch at War Memorial Gym on Saturday, December 4^th, at 5:00 p.m. (PST) to close out the calendar year with their third and final meeting of the Canada West regular season.