ABBOTSFORD – The UBC Thunderbirds (17-3, 0-1) lost a hard-fought nail-biter to the Victoria Vikes (10-10, 2-0) 66-63 in the Canada West quarter-finals at the UFV Athletic Centre, ending the T-Birds season.
The game was incredibly close from start to finish, featuring an astounding 19 lead changes with neither team ever gaining a double digit advantage. In the end, it was the Vikes' ability to get to the line and knock down their free throws in the dying minutes of the game that proved to be the difference.
While UBC played stellar defence throughout, they struggled to find their shot all afternoon, hitting just 28 percent of their attempts from the field and 19 percent from three. The T-Birds won the turnover battle by seven, 28-21, and got five more second chance points than their rivals from Vancouver Island.
As they have all season long,
Olivia Weekes and
Mona Berlitz led the way for UBC, each earning a double-double. Weekes led all scorers with 21 points and added 13 rebounds, along with a pair of steals. Berlitz grabbed eight offensive rebounds as part of her 18 point-10 rebound-three steal effort.
The Vikes started the game red hot, pouring in eight points in the first two minutes to grab a quick 8-3 lead. The 'Birds quickly battled back, putting pressure on the Vikes with a half-court trap they struggled to counter, leading to a 6-0 UBC run to give them a 9-8 lead midway through the opening frame. The teams traded buckets from there, with the lead changing by the minute. When the dust settled at the end of the first quarter the teams were tied 18-18.
The second quarter saw both teams maintain their strong defensive play. The T-Birds threw a number of creative pressures at Victoria, forcing turnover after turnover, but struggling to finish on the offensive end. Weekes and Stella LaGrange each knocked down threes later in the quarter to briefly give UBC the lead, but again the Vikes battled back and managed to tie it 36-36 at the half.
The second half started with an uptick in scoring, but still neither team could build any kind of advantage early in the frame. Just after the 5:00 minute mark the Vikes suddenly found their game, hitting back to back threes and turning up the defensive intensity to force several UBC turnovers. They soon tacked on a pair of buckets inside to make it a 10-0 run and take a 55-47 lead, the biggest for either team all game. Berlitz responded for the 'Birds by scoring on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit in half before the defences took over again and neither team scored for the rest of the quarter, keeping the tally at 55-51 for the Vikes going into the fourth.
UBC's stifling defence continued in the final quarter, as they did not allow Victoria to score for a stretch of nearly six minutes between the two frames. The T-Birds chipped away and tied things up at 55-55 by the 8:30 mark of the fourth. Despite the lengthy shutout streak and holding the Vikes to just four points in the first seven minutes of the fourth, UBC struggled to take the lead. They tied Victoria at 57, and knotted them up again at 59 on another Berlitz free throw with 3:30 remaining. It wasn't until there was just 2:30 remaining that
Sofia Bergman hit a layup off of a well-designed inbound play to give the T-Birds their first lead of the second half, but that was immediately answered by a Sierra Reisig three, giving the Vikes the edge again at 62-61.
In the final two minutes of the game, Abigail Becker was fouled in the lane and hit one free throw to make it 63-61 for Victoria, before Berlitz drove hard to the basket out of a timeout and finished with her left to tie the game back up at 63 with just over a minute remaining. With 20 second left, the Vikes' Mimi Sigue grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. As the gym held their breath Sigue knocked down one free throw, missed the second, but managed to get her own offensive rebound and was fouled on the attempted put back. This time, she made both free throws, leaving the T-Birds needing a three to tie with 18 seconds remaining.
First-year
Jade Huynh found herself with the ball in her hand on the perimeter and used a Berlitz screen to find space for a three. The shot fell short, but Berlitz chased down the rebound and kicked it back out to Huynh who missed her second attempt to tie as well. Berlitz again got the board, but there was no time to try another three and the game ended 63-61.
This is the second season in a row that the Thunderbirds have reached the Canada West quarter-finals.
