VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds showed out well for their fans and themselves in their final game of the 2024-25 season, as they nearly completed what would have been a fantastic comeback against the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the bronze medal game at the 2025 INDOCHINO U SPORTS Final 8.

Down by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Thunderbirds battled all the way back to take the lead in the second, only to fall 68-61 in a hotly-contested fourth quarter.

"I'm so proud of them," said Thunderbirds head coach Isabel Ormond, about her players. "Nobody wants the outcome of this game, but all year and even for the last two seasons that I've been here, this team won't quit…and you can't help but be so proud of that."

Fifth-year senior Jessica Clarke was named Player of the Game for UBC for the second time in the tournament, recording 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks on 7-11 shooting in her final game as a Thunderbird.

"She just radiates energy to her teammates," added Ormond. "She's made a huge impact on UBC as a women's basketball program even though she was only here for one season. She laid it all out there and we were all here for it."

Mona Berlitz tallied 14 points, seven boards and four steals, while Keira Daly scored 14 points off the bench for UBC.

On the side of the Gee-Gees, it was Natsuki Szczokin who led the way with 14 points, six rebounds, eight assists and eight steals. Allie McCarthy scored a game-high 20 points on 6-10 shooting. 

Clarke got the T-Birds going early, scoring the team's first four points and getting a big block on the inside on the other end.

Ottawa started out hot from the outside, however, hitting three of their first four three-point attempts to take the early lead. That lead only continued to grow for the rest of the frame, as the Thunderbirds struggled to get their offence going.

Down 26-11 at the break, UBC did get some shots to fall to start the second, scoring on each of their first three possessions – all of them at the rim including a nice spin move in the post from Berlitz.

However, the Gee-Gees matched that scoring output, keeping their advantage around the same margin until the final few minutes of the first half. That's when the Thunderbirds finally started to gain some ground, a push that included a Sara Toneguzzi triple – UBC's first of the game – on the last play before the break to put the score at 40-29 at halftime.

That momentum turned into an avalanche in the third, which began with a Clarke and-one to cut the deficit to single digits. A sweet eurostep from Daly followed by another two buckets from Clarke made it an 11-2 run to begin the quarter and just a two-point game.

Berlitz ended the frame with a three in the dying seconds to give UBC a 50-48 lead, their first of the game. The blue and gold outscored Ottawa 21-8 overall in the third.

The fourth quarter was more of a grind to begin, with both teams only making a single bucket each through the first three minutes. Five straight points from Daly put the T-Birds up by two with less than four minutes to play, but the Gee-Gees tied things back up and took a slim lead of their own.



With just 90 seconds to play Szczokin hit a mid-range jumper that made it a six-point game, and that basket proved to be the dagger as the Thunderbirds were unable to make a final push.

The fourth-place finish at nationals caps the program's best season in a decade, as the Thunderbirds earned Canada West silver and battled hard at the Final 8 against the conference champions of each of AUS, Canada West and OUA. 

For Ormond, her takeaways from this season are twofold.

"I'm really proud of us being here…the work we did to get there," she said. "The second thing is that the job's not done. The job is not done. We're ready to get after it – take this, celebrate it, and get after it."