VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (10-6) bounced back in convincing fashion, earning a 78-50 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat (9-9) on Saturday evening at War Memorial Gym – scoring 50 points in the paint and getting out in transition early and often to close out the weekend series with a win.
"Being able to get stops allowed us to get out in transition much more tonight," said UBC head coach Erin McAleenan after the 'Birds snapped a three-game slide with the commanding victory. "I thought we were a bit more focused, especially right at the beginning, on what the game plan was. That led to stops and us being able to get some easy scores. There was also a huge difference in our ability to finish inside tonight. Last night we were something like 20 percent in the paint, and tonight we were 56 percent. When the other team is getting to the free throw line 28 times, we have to take care of all the other possessions, and we did a lot better job of that today. We've also talked about our depth all year, and especially when we have people not dressing this weekend with injuries or people in foul trouble, it speaks to their mental resilience with having the next person up being able to contribute. We changed our starters a few times over the last few games, so seeing the people off the bench coming in and stepping up is huge."
Olivia Weekes came off the bench to lead the T-Birds with 16 points and eight rebounds,
Hailey Counsell put up 14 points and four boards, and
Emily Martindale had 13 points and seven rebounds with three steals in the win. Kelsey Falk tallied a team-high 13 points with eight boards for the Heat, Jaeli Ibbetson neared a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Sofia Ainsa Lluch added 10 points with four boards and three assists in the loss.
Ainsa Lluch hit UBCO's only two threes of the game to open the scoring for UBCO at 6-4 before Weekes came in off the bench and gave the 'Birds an 8-6 lead on a strong step-through. Toneguzzi put UBC up 14-8, then drove straight to the rim for a layup as the T-Birds headed into the second up 19-13. Weekes hit a midrange jumper for a 21-15 lead in the second, but Ainsa Lluch slashed straight to the bucket for two to cut the deficit to 21-19.
Azalya Forstbauer finished in the paint to extend the T-Bird lead to 26-22 and Martindale made it 34-29 UBC with a buzzer-beating floater to send the teams into halftime.
Ibbetsen made four free throws in the third and went to work – scoring eight points in the quarter for the Heat.
Cerys Merton made a pair of free throws for a 44-37 T-Bird lead and Toneguzzi showed off her speed on a steal and a score at 48-39. Rachel Hare kept the Heat within eight late in the frame, but Merton snagged a steal and laid it in for a 53-43 lead after three. Weekes and Counsell scored back-to-back layups for a 62-45 cushion in the fourth, as the Thunderbirds continued to play with pace and bolstered their lead to 22 points after a pair of Weekes free throws en route to the 28-point win.
The Thunderbirds will continue their lengthy homestand down the stretch of the regular season against the UFV Cascades (11-4) on Friday, February 3rd, at 5:00 p.m. (PT) and Saturday, February 4th, at 4:00 p.m. inside War Memorial Gym. UBCO will close out their regular season slate next weekend when they host the UVic Vikes (6-9) for a two-game series in Kelowna.
