VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds showed dominance on the court on Friday night, downing the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 72-26 at War Memorial Gym. The 'Birds pulled ahead early with a 16-point opening quarter and never looked back, holding the visitors to just 26 points, including a third quarter where TRU managed only one basket.

"I think we shut down some of their starters early on, so that helped," said UBC head coach Dave Taylor. "Defensively, we were obviously very good. Holding them to 26 points was really good. Offensively, we just missed a lot of easy shots. I like the shots we were getting. We were just probably missing a lot more than we normally would. We ended up shooting 36 per cent, so if we can get those quality shots and make more of them, then we're fine for tomorrow."



Olivia Weekes led the 'Birds with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Brooke Wagner had 11 points with eight boards. Stella LaGrange also reached double-digits with 10 points.

Colby Konig finished with six points for the WolfPack, while Micah Ramsay and Hailey Merrigan put up four points with two and five rebounds, respectively.

The 'Birds and WolfPack opened with a slow start before UBC found its rhythm on an eight-point run capped by a Cassie Joli-Coeur jumper from the elbow. Olivia Randall responded with TRU's first basket, but UBC quickly regained control. A LaGrange bucket from behind the arc ended the quarter with a 16-6 advantage for the hosts.



Merrigan started the second with two points for the WolfPack, followed by another Randall layup to narrow the deficit to six at 16-10. Sara Toneguzzi responded with back-to-back threes to restore UBC's double-digit cushion. The 'Birds continued to push, and a LaGrange finish in the paint sent them to the half ahead 31-12.

UBC extended the lead to 43-14 at the midway point of the third behind back-to-back Kiarra Kelly buckets and a Joli-Coeur-Weekes connection. Wagner added two from the post, and a LaGrange steal led to a Reese Tam three that capped off a 19-point unanswered run. The 'Birds defense held TRU to just two points in the frame, closing out the quarter 50-14. 

Lagrange hit double digits early in the fourth with a fast-break layup for 52-16. TRU found more success late, putting up 12 points in their strongest quarter of the night led by Konig, but UBC stayed in control. A Konig jump shot on the buzzer ended the game with a 72-26 victory for the T-Birds.



Looking ahead, Taylor shared what he's hoping to see from the team in tomorrow's rematch.

"I think it's just another strong defensive effort," explained Taylor. "I liked our consistency defensively. They had 12 points in the first half and 14 in the second. We've just got to continue to be consistent and just build good habits."

The two teams will face off again on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym.