VANCOUVER – Back on home court after back-to-back road wins, the No. 9-ranked University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (3-1) fought off a tenacious University of Northern British Columbia (0-5) team with a strong fourth quarter push to earn a 77-59 victory.
Four Thunderbirds would reach double-digit scoring, with
Cerys Merton leading the way by posting 16 points and 6 assists while going 4-for-7 from deep – hitting them exactly when UBC needed them most.
Amy Stinson contributed 15 points alongside 5 offensive rebounds, while
Mona Berlitz collected her second double-double of the season, putting up 13 points and 15 rebounds.
When asked about the offensive contributions of Merton, who is typically known for their defensive presence, Head Coach
Dave Taylor said, "Cerys [Merton] is not necessarily our first shooting option, but she always delivers in the clutch."
UNBC was led by a clutch shooter of their own in Viktoriia Filatova, who finished with 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting. First-year Annika Parr joined Filatova in double digits with 13 of her own and grabbed 7 boards and 2 steals.
Turnovers were the main story for the first half, with UBC committing 11 and UNBC with 8 in the first quarter. UBC would grab 12 offensive rebounds but struggle to turn them into points, only shooting 6 of 21 from the field to start the game. UNBC would have a slim 16-15 lead going into the quarter break.
Needing to change the momentum, Merton would pick up a steal just seven seconds into the second quarter, marking her 232nd of her career to become the UBC all-time steals leader, surpassing Kristjana Young. Stinson would get going and scored eight of her 10 first-half points in the quarter, with Berlitz hauling in 10 rebounds before the half. UBC would go into the break still trailing by one, 36-35.
After a Merton three early to start the half, UBC's offence would go cold for several minutes. With 2 minutes to go in the quarter, back-to-back-to-back steals by the Thunderbirds would lead to two Stella Lagrange layups and their first lead of the second half. A clutch Merton three followed to extend the advantage to four before Annika Parr would cut it back to 50-48 in favour of the T-Birds going into the fourth.
UBC would exert their dominance in the fourth, especially in the paint, with the likes of
Emilia Banmann and
Alfreda Okolie combining for 11 points in the frame. UBC would not let up and stretched their lead to 18, thanks to a total of 27 fourth-quarter points to secure the 77-59 victory.
"We just have to be more disciplined," added coach Taylor when asked about what sparked the second-half turnaround. "There were just bad passes, bad footwork, bad decisions. So it wasn't necessarily that they were stealing it; we were just making mistakes."
UBC will look to use this momentum when they are back in action Saturday afternoon, with a 4:00 p.m. matchup against the Thompson River Wolfpack (2-1) at War Memorial Gymnasium.
