The UBC Thunderbirds (5-9) return to War Memorial Gym for their final two home games of the regular season as they host the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (10-2) on Friday at 6:00 p.m. (PT) and the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (1-15) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (PT).  
 
The 'Birds are coming off a tough road trip against the University of Victoria (8-4) that saw UBC drop their first two games of 2022 to the third-place Vikes. Victoria's Ashlyn Day set a new Canada West season single-game record on Friday evening with 42 points – thanks, in part, to a season-high 15-for-17 performance from the free throw line en route to a 67-54 win. The 'Birds held a narrow lead at halftime but were outscored 21-10 in the third quarter and couldn't overcome the deficit. Madison Legault had 11 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two assists in her third game back from injury, while Hailey Counsell put up a team-high 14 points in the loss. The T-Birds fell 82-69 the following evening in the provincial capital, despite a strong 22-point showing from Kate Johnson and 12 points and eight rebounds from Olivia Weekes.


 
"Both nights in Victoria we did a good job of playing our pace in the first half, but between their zone defense and us not getting stops, we really slowed down in the second half," said UBC head coach Erin McAleenan. "We also settled for too many early perimeter shots on the Friday, and then Saturday did a much better job getting the ball inside, but unfortunately we did not convert at a high enough rate."
 
UFV has won two straight heading into this weekend's matchup – taking down Trinity Western (13-3) 58-39 on January 22^nd before besting the TRU WolfPack, 68-56, in Kamloops last weekend with a big 24-point performance from Deanna Tuchscherer. The Thunderbirds and Cascades split their early season series at War Memorial Gym in November, as the 'Birds earned a thrilling 60-59 victory on night one before dropping game two 71-64.


 
"UFV plays tough defensively and will look to slow us down by gaping off the ball and switching our actions," added McAleenan. "They have a strong presence inside with their forwards so we will have to limit their deep seals. Maddy Gobeil and Deanna Tuchscherer will be key match-ups for us to contain and limit their opportunities, but UFV have proven that they have a lot of scoring threats so our team defense will have to work together consistently to force them to take tough shots."


 
Meanwhile, the WolfPack have lost nine consecutive games heading into this weekend – most recently to UFV after a suffering a tough 78-75 loss to the Vikes in one of their best showings of the season. UBC swept TRU at War Memorial Gym to open 2022 and will look to build momentum as the Canada West playoffs approach.
 
Both games will stream live on Canada West TV with tickets available for free online.