VANCOUVER – After a 4-0 start to the conference season, the UBC Thunderbirds stand as one of five remaining unbeaten teams in Canada West, and the only one in the Pacific Division.
Behind them in the Pacific are four teams all tied at 2-2, two of which will be coming to War Memorial Gym this weekend. Up first is the anticipated annual
Courtside game on Friday, November 7, against UVic. Then, the T-Birds square off against the UBC Okanagan Heat on Saturday, November 8.
Friday's fun begins before the opening tip at 5:30 p.m. (PT), and continues across the night's doubleheader. There will be a live DJ, pizza giveaway, t-shirt toss and various games held throughout the evening.
"I'm excited," said Thunderbirds head coach
Dave Taylor about his first time experiencing Courtside here at UBC. "I've heard a lot about the event and it sounds like a great event, and obviously UVic is a long-time rival. So I'm excited for the atmosphere and everything with it."
"This will be a great test this weekend, as UVic is very good and UBCO is tough too, and they're very different opponents. We have to be locked in mentally as we're going to be facing different challenges Friday to Saturday night."
The Vikes and Heat just so happened to play each other last weekend, with Victoria winning both games. That came after UVic lost two close games to Trinity Western and UFV on opening weekend, and UBCO beat Thompson Rivers and UNBC.
"Victoria has got a very talented set of posts in Abigail Becker and Mimi Sigue," remarked Taylor. "And they've got a very talented group of rookies…they bring a lot of energy and they're a very tough team because they can play different styles – they can hurt you inside but they can also run it, and defensively they mix it up a lot."
Both Becker and Sigue are nightly double-double threats, with Becker averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds (fifth in Canada West), and Sigue averaging 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds. First-year point guard Avery Geddes already has a massive role – leading the team in minutes per game (33.5), assists (4.5) and steals (2.3).
"UBCO is not a post-oriented team as much – they're more perimeter – but they have length and they're going to try and press you and turn you over," added Taylor on his team's second opponent for this weekend. "They play pretty fast, so it'll be a different type of game."
The Heat are led offensively by Kanani Coon, who averages 17 points and 3.5 assists per game, leading the team in both categories. UBC Okanagan is averaging 65.8 points as a team through the first four games, nearly identical to the Thunderbirds (65.5).
For the T-Birds,
Olivia Weekes leads the way in both scoring (14.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.0).
Cassie Joli-Coeur has been very efficient inside, shooting 57.1% from the field (third-best in Canada West), while
Cerys Merton ranks first in the conference in steals, having already racked up 16 through the first four games.
While Taylor and his staff are busy setting up scouting reports and game-planning for this weekend's opposition, he knows that their opponents are doing the exact same for them.
"I think with us, teams are trying to take away our inside game, which is no surprise. They're going to have to keep us off the boards as we can rebound it quite well…and then our defensive pressure, we've put up some good defensive numbers with our length, so that's what I would think other teams are talking about."
In terms of those defensive numbers, the T-Birds have certainly locked down their opposition through the first two weeks of the regular season, averaging a stingy 38.8 points against per game, the best mark in the conference. They have not allowed more than 50 points in a single game yet, but could be in for a pair of tough battles against the Vikes and Heat who are both averaging better than 65 points a night.
After Courtside at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the second game of the weekend against the Heat begins at 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday. That will be the T-Birds' final home game of the fall semester, next hitting War Memorial Gym again in January.
For more information about Courtside, and to buy tickets to the event,
CLICK HERE.
