VANCOUVER – It wasn't the prettiest of performances for either team at War Memorial Gym, but the Thunderbirds got what they were looking for in the end with a win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
 
The Thunderbirds had 36 bench points in the game, led by Jade Huynh who scored 11 and Maddy Billings who tallied nine points and three assists. Olivia Weekes had 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the starting lineup.
 
"We have some good depth," said Thunderbirds head coach Dave Taylor. "I thought today Maddy was a game-changer for us in the second half especially, gave us a bit of a spark off the bench. That's where we're going to beat the good teams hopefully – with our depth."


 
The WolfPack were led in scoring by Kylee Koppes who had eight points and three steals. Olena Vasylenko recorded six points, three rebounds, three assists and five steals.
 
Both teams started slow offensively, with Brooke Wagner scoring the game's first field goal a little more than two minutes in. With both defences forcing a number of turnovers, points were hard to come by in the opening 10 minutes.
 
The highlight of the opening frame for the visitors was a sweet scoop layup by Vasylenko midway through the period, but they found themselves down by six points heading into the second.
 
The T-Birds aimed to get their offence going after the quarter break, with Cassie Joli-Coeur hitting a nice turnaround jumper for their first points of the frame. A bucket from Huynh and a Kiarra Kelly triple continued the UBC bench scoring, as they opened up a double-digit lead for the first time.
 
The Thunderbirds went into the halftime break up 25-13, holding a big advantage in both bench points (16-0) and second chance points (9-0).
 
The third quarter began similar to the first, with neither team in an offensive rhythm. Jaeli Ibbetson finally got things going for the home team with a driving layup, but Hailey Merrigan answered right back with a midrange jumper.
 
An Alison Hansen three-pointer followed layups for Koppes and Micah Ramsay made it a six-point lead, the closest the WolfPack had been since midway through the second. Huynh responded with a much-needed triple, as the T-Birds aimed to close the quarter strong.


 
The duo of Olivia Weekes and Huynh proceeded to help them do just that, combining to score seven points in the final 80 seconds of the third to put UBC back up by 12 heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
That lead grew quickly to begin the fourth, as the T-Birds scored a quick nine points in a row capped by a three-pointer by Billings. That provided the cushion they needed to see things out, as the blue and gold earned their fourth straight win to begin conference play.
 
Three of those wins have been at home, and the T-Birds are back inside War Memorial Gym next Friday for their annual Courtside festival game, against their rivals UVic. But despite the festivities and the opponent, Taylor wants to keep his team focusing on themselves much more than who they might be facing.
 
"With us, a lot of it is just about us and how we're playing," he remarked. "I said to them before the game – and I truly believe this – what's separating us from being a great team right now is consistency. When we're good we're really good. But we have too many roller coaster moments, and I'm not a big fan of roller coasters in real life or in coaching."
 
That Courtside game against Victoria tips at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on November 7. The next day the Thunderbirds will face UBC Okanagan at 4:00 p.m. (PT), also inside War Memorial Gym.