The 2015-16 season was nothing short of an uphill battle for the women’s basketball team. But given the team’s changing circumstances, the outcome was not all that unexpected either.
The T-Birds’ season came to a close after two loses to the Canada West’s top-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies during the quarterfinals. UBC previously came out with a 9-11 regular season before routing the UFV Cascades in the Canada West play-in series.
“Our winning percentage was a lot lower than what we’re accustomed to. With the young team that we have, that’s not too surprising,” said Deb Huband, UBC's head coach.
The departure of star seniors Kris Young, Harleen Sidhu and Cassandra Knievel last year left big shoes to fill for both returning and new T-Birds alike as the team worked around the clock to rebuild its chemistry on the court.
“They combined for over 55 points per game and a lot of leadership, so that was certainly a big loss for us,” said Huband.
The T-Birds’ struggles became apparent right from the season’s get-go in November. Before heading to the winter break, the T-Birds came out with a 2-6 record, dropping three of those games by 20 or more points.
Despite the initial difficulties, UBC saw a surge in momentum as it hit the court again in January, winning four straight against the Universities of Lethbridge and Manitoba. Forward Kara Spotton — who was named to be on the Canada West All-Star team — scored 38 points a game against Manitoba. She was just shy of Young’s school record of 40 points in a game.
“It was definitely more of a learning year — learning from each other, playing together as a team. Once you get cohesive as a unit, things flow a lot easier,” said Susan Thompson, a fourth-year guard.
Still, it didn’t take long before the T-Birds’ playoffs chances came on the line again as a five-game losing streak followed. Luckily, the three UBC wins at the end of the regular season, which included a 48-point victory against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen that salvaged the team’s postseason hopes.
“We had a rough start to our season … but I think we proved towards the end of the season that it didn’t really matter,” said Thompson.
With the season now over, the T-Birds’ main priorities during the off-season will be to develop current players and recruit new talent to the team, especially with the departure of seniors Diana Lee and Adrienne Parkin.
“It’s that cycle of graduation and recruiting and development of the players that are currently on the roster,” said Huband.
Still, whether the team can see a better performance next season remains to be seen.
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