VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (9-4) fought for a fourth-quarter lead, but ultimately fell 60-53 to the Canada West-best Regina Cougars (11-2) and snapped a four-game win streak in front of a raucous Courtside 2023 crowd.
"I thought we put them on the free throw line way too much," said UBC head coach Erin McAleenan. "They've got two very talented players in Misskey and Belmore, but in terms of our plan for them, we started to get away from it in the fourth quarter. They were able to either get some easy baskets or create some easy scoring opportunities for their shooters on the outside. Overall, our defense is really good…I don't like that we gave up 26 in the fourth, but I thought offensively we got stalled with too many empty possessions and our defence changed when we're not scoring."
In their first game back inside War Memorial Gym since December 3
rd,
Olivia Weekes put up a double-double for the T-Birds – finishing with 16 points and 12 boards,
Taelor Coxford tallied nine points, five rebounds, and three assists, while
Emily Martindale had nine points and five boards in the loss.
Cara Misskey racked up a game-high 19 points and six assists for Regina, Zoe Hartman notched 12 points, and Jade Belmore added nine points and eight rebounds with three assists in the win.
Weekes knocked down a jumper at 9-8 Cougars with three minutes remaining in the first, before Coxford drained a triple with the shot clock expiring for an 11-9 edge.
Sofia Bergman extended the T-Bird lead with a three in the final minute of the frame as UBC finished the first up 14-9. Hartman kept Regina within four in the second, and the visitors entered the bonus midway through the quarter. Maddy Seida finished a smooth reverse layup to make it a one-possession deficit for the Cougars and, despite shooting just 22 percent from the field in the half, the 'Birds held a 27-25 lead at the break.
Misskey evened it up early in the third and hit a three for a 32-27 lead, but the T-Birds fought back and tied it with an
Emily Martindale trey.
Azalya Forstbauer put UBC up 37-34 late in the quarter, and
Cerys Merton reclaimed a five-point edge at 39-34 before
Emilia Banmann sent the 'Birds into the final frame up 41-34. The T-Birds pushed their lead to 10 in the fourth before Belmore scored from beyond the arc for the Cougars at 46-41 UBC. Misskey drove hard to the hoop for two at 48-47 'Birds and Hartman completed the fourth-quarter comeback with a three to take a 50-48 lead. Down the stretch, a Misskey and-one made it 55-48 Regina and, although Coxford and Martindale each hit a late three, the visitors held on for the 60-53 victory.
"First of all credit to UBC," commented Cougars head coach Dave Taylor. "Which is how we expected they would play and they did very well but quite frankly I thought we were terrible. I don't think we were mentally tough, we missed a lot of free throws, but we had a good stretch at the end and probably got a little bit lucky. UBC probably deserved this one with their effort but we'll take the W."
"Regina is number two in the country, and is a really good team," added McAleenan. "We need to limit the fouls for sure tomorrow and offensively I didn't think we finished very well in the paint, so hopefully we can make a few more shots tomorrow."
The T-Birds and Cougars will take to the floor for a rematch on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (PT) inside War Memorial Gym as the teams continue to jockey for playoff positioning in the competitive Canada West.
