VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (5-7) locked down on defence to earn a 94-54 win over the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (1-12) on Saturday at War Memorial Gym. On an afternoon dedicated to breast cancer fundraising initiatives in support of the Canadian Cancer Society with U SPORTS Shoot for the Cure, the 'Birds shot 49% from the field and made twelve threes in front of the home fans.
With 11 different Thunderbirds getting on the scoresheet,
Hailey Counsell led the T-Birds with 22 points,
Kate Johnson had 12 points with four steals and four assists, and
Madison Legault put up 16 points with seven rebounds and three blocks in the win.
"First thing I looked at from the stats sheet was our points in the paint," said UBC head coach
Erin McAleenan after the 'Birds earned a series sweep. "Yesterday I thought we left a lot of opportunities out on the court, and today we were 56% in paint which was so much better inside. [Madison] Legault was great in her second game back – yesterday was her first game in basically two years, so you can really tell she found her own today. I still think our overall defence, whether it was in man or zone was super active and helped set the tone. I'm super proud of our effort today."
UBC grabbed 15 steals and scored 29 points off of turnovers, while TRU rebounded well and went 21 for 25 from the free throw line.
Anneke Cairnie had a team-high 11 points and eight rebounds, while Karishma Rai and Priyanca Sundher each scored nine points in the loss.
TRU opened the scoring and kept pace with the 'Birds at 5-5 before Counsell drained her second three for an 8-5 lead and UBC rattled off an 11-0 run midway through the first quarter. Johnson found
Azalya Forstbauer in the paint for an 18-9 lead with just under two minutes remaining, but Cairnie scored two free throws to trim the deficit to seven and the T-Birds took a 20-11 lead into the second.
Jessica Orr knocked down a triple early in the second, but costly WolfPack turnovers allowed the 'Birds to maintain a double-digits lead at 24-14. First-year Thunderbird
Katie Hartman earned a hoop and the harm for a 35-18 cushion and hit a three on the next trip down the court. Sundher responded with a pair of free throws and a layup for the WolfPack, and Megan Rouault scored on a reverse layup to cut into the T-Bird lead, but another Johnson scoop and score late gave UBC a 50-27 lead at halftime.
The 'Birds came out of the gates with a 7-0 run to start the second half and extended their lead to 30 on a
Madison Legault breakaway layup as the T-Birds continued to fire on all cylinders with an 80-37 lead after three quarters.
Karishma Rai made a three for TRU in the fourth, but
Ryann Kristmanson replied with a triple of her own at 94-48 'Birds and the home team continued on to their second straight win.
"I thought the big thing first semester was that we grinded out a lot of close games and didn't come out on the winning side of a lot of them – but we continued to believe we could win those games. In the last three weeks, they've been resilient and come together. I'm just happy they're able to see that pay off and hopefully build more confidence. Hopefully we can keep that up in practice over the next few weeks and then be ready for the road games in Victoria."
UBC now heads into a bye week before taking on the University of Victoria Vikes in the provincial capital on February 4
th and 5
th, while the WolfPack will look to bounce back at home against the Vikes next weekend.
