EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds (7-2) dominated the offensive glass and forced the MacEwan Griffins (0-7) into a massive number of turnovers in a 75-41 UBC win on Friday night at the David Atkinson Gym.
The T-Birds grabbed 26 offensive rebounds, out-rebounded the Griffins 51-28, and committed 31 turnovers in the loss.
Olivia Weekes led UBC with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while
Mona Berlitz recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds. They hauled in 14 offensive rebounds between the two of them.
Julie Dueck led MacEwan with nine points and two assists, while Unity Obasuyi scored seven points and three rebounds in the loss.
UBC jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but MacEwan was able to battle back and cut UBC's lead to just 12-8 after the opening 10 minutes.
MacEwan staying within striking distance of UBC for most of the second quarter and were able to cut the T'Birds lead to 25-21 after a three-pointer from Toki Tsuzuki. However, the 'Birds gradually started to opened up their advantage and entered half up by 13.
The T-Birds continued to put full court pressure on in the second half while also finding their shooting stroke, which turned out to be a deadly combination.
UBC started the second half on a 12-4 run to extend their lead, and they didn't look back as they finished the third quarter strong and held MacEwan to just seven points in the fourth quarter.
"They rebound the ball really well at the offensive end, and we knew that coming in that it would be a battle," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams. "Our girls now know what it will take going up against them, and we're going to have to attack the basket much harder tomorrow. We know how physical they are, and we have to match that if we want to give ourselves a chance."
UBC will wrap up their weekend series with MacEwan and their first half of conference play on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (PT) back at David Atkinson Gym. Watch it live or on demand on
Canada West TV.
