KELOWNA, B.C. – Facing a tough road battle against a UBC Okanagan Heat team (2-1) ranked above them in the U SPORTS Top 10, the Thunderbirds (2-1) found themselves trailing at the half but exploded after the break to pull away.
The stifling UBC defence held the Heat to just 26% shooting from the field overall, and allowed 22 points total in the second half. On the other side of the ball, Mona Berlitz poured in 19 points on 7-10 shooting in the second half. alone, and finished with a career-best 30 on the night.
Amy Stinson tallied 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in support, while Cerys Merton recorded six points, four rebounds, six assists and an incredible nine steals, tying her career-high and joining Kristjana Young as the only players in program history to reach that mark in multiple regular season games.
You would have been hard-pressed to successfully predict the final margin of victory in the first half, when neither side led by more than five at any point in the opening 20 minutes. While the T-Birds held a narrow advantage for much of that time, the Heat remained tight to them thanks to an advantage in three-pointers made (five, compared to just one for UBC), and some strong offensive rebounding (leading 9-5 in that category).
After Kiana Kaczur scored on the inside to put her team up by five with less than 20 seconds to go in the first half, an Emilia Banmann bucket made it a one possession game once again heading into the break at 33-30.
The third quarter is where the tide began to turn, thanks in large part due to the Thunderbirds dominating on the inside. All 20 of their points in the frame were scored either in the paint or at the free throw line, most of them by Berlitz. The Heat, meanwhile, shot just 3-16 from the field in the third, and missed all seven of their two-point attempts.
It was still just a six-point game entering the fourth, made a four-point game after Kanani Coon began the final quarter with a pair of free throws. But the Thunderbirds stepped on the gas pedal from there, ripping off a 15-0 run to completely turn the game on its head.
That burst was sparked by Berlitz, Stinson and Merton all draining triples on consecutive possessions, and by the final couple minutes the T-Birds had outscored their opponents 24-5 in the fourth, before a couple of late consolation three-pointers by the Heat put a few more points on the board.
The blue and gold are now done for the weekend, returning to Vancouver for the start of a four-game homestand beginning next weekend. The T-Birds will host UNBC and Thompson Rivers inside War Memorial Gym on November 13 and 14.
