VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (4-2) are returning to the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym this weekend after a five-game road trip when they play the second half of a home-and-home series with the University of Victoria Vikes (0-4). Game one of the series is set for 6:00 p.m. (PT) Thursday at Victoria's CARSA Performance Gym and tip-off on Saturday is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial.
Saturday's game is part of UBC's
Courtside Basketball Festival, featuring a live DJ, special half-time entertainment, games, prizes, giveaways and more! Tickets can still be found
here.
The T-Birds began their year with four straight wins, handling the Lethbridge Pronghorns in a pair of home games to open the season, before shutting down the Wesmen in two comfortable victories in Winnipeg. UBC got its first taste of regular season adversity under new head coach Isabel Ormond last weekend when the team visited U SPORTS No.2-ranked Saskatchewan. The blue and gold hung tight with the Huskies, but ultimately dropped both games for their first losses of the year.
"This team showed that they do not give up and do not stop playing hard," reflected Ormond. "They showed great energy and resilience to play that hard against a great team, all the way to the end. There is a lot around details and fundamentals to focus on from the weekend that will lead to big improvements for us, both offensively and defensively."
Unlike this year's new-look men's team, there is plenty of roster continuity on the women's side. None the less, the T-Birds looks far different under Ormond, most notably seeing a significant uptick in scoring. Rather than being driven by new personnel, it seems to be due to a new system maximizing the team's talent and familiar faces expanding and improving their offensive game.
One such familiar face is second year forward
Mona Berlitz. Her role in the offense has exploded this season, as her 15.2 points per game put the German-born forward top five in Canada West. Berlitz has scored in double figures in every game so far this year, averaging more than eight rebounds per game as well, to give the T-Birds a second, versatile, scoring and rebounding threat next to established star
Olivia Weekes.
"Mona has been great for us, especially with her ability to rebound and make plays," praised Ormond. "She is so kind, hardworking, and always ready to improve her own game and our team. She will do what it takes. Great teams need multiple players who can score and contribute in different ways. With so many teams focused on trying to stop Olivia, it's a great challenge to add consistent scoring from other players and in different ways. We've seen a lot of people step up in different moments."
For more on Berlitz's fascinating backstory and journey to UBC, check out this
feature article.
The winless Vikes have an endured a very difficult schedule start to their campaign, as they suffered two losses each to U SPORTS No.4-ranked Calgary and U SPORTS No.7-ranked UFV in their only four games so far. Last season, the teams split their home and home series, with the road teams emerging victorious each time. Sure to be spurred by the historic rivalry between these two programs, and the big turnout expected for the
Courtside events on Saturday, Ormond knows her team is going to have a fight on its hands to the Vikes at bay.
"I expect this to be a very physical game defensively for us," concluded the first-year head coach. "U VIC plays through their forwards a lot so it will be important to limit scores in the paint and rebound possessions. It will be a great series this weekend."
Tickets for Saturday's game, including all
Courtside special events, are still available
here. Stream all UBC Thunderbirds basketball live or on demand on
Canada West TV.
