After dropping both games to Alberta during last week’s season opener, the women’s basketball team redeemed itself by winning a pair against the Trinity Western University Spartans.
The T-Birds won the first game by a score of 77-53 and had the lead throughout almost the entire game. Four players Kara Spotton, Diana Lee, Adrienne Parkin and Krysten Lindquist put up double-digits.
“I think we’re actually well as a team if points can be spread around a little bit. It’s nice when you get three or four players in double figures so the scoring load is shared,” said Deb Huband, UBC's head coach.
After earning their first win of the season, the Thunderbirds went on to win their second game 73-57.
Both sides of the court had their share of dominance during the first quarter. TWU’s Jessie Brown opened the scoring with a three-point shot before UBC responded with two layups and free throws to take the lead. The Spartans then had a flurry of 13 points until the T-Birds rallied 13 of their own to come back on top.
After the T-Birds took a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter, the score for the remainder of the game was in favour of UBC.
In the second quarter, the T-Birds showed a noticeably stronger performance as they outscored the Spartans 18-9 to take a 37-25 lead by halftime. First-year guard Jessica Hanson scored seven for UBC, including a three-pointer. She would finish the game with 18 points.
“It’s nice to see other people step up…. I think some of our younger players as well are getting comfortable and are able to contribute a little bit more,” said Huband.
With the Thunderbirds leading by 12 points at halftime, the Spartans were able to narrow the score to single digits during the third quarter. Still, TWU did not gain much ground as UBC led 49-41 by the end of the third.
“Consistency is a big part of our game, that is something we need to work on. But you know, Trinity is a good team and we expected them to kind of fight back a little bit,” Lee said. Lee finished the game with 21 points to become UBC’s lead scorer of the night.
After the Spartans managed to narrow the gap in the third, the T-Birds brought renewed energy during the final quarter to regain their double-digit lead and ultimately win the game.
UBC’s defence against TWU was also noticeably strong throughout the weekend as the team forced nearly twice as many turnovers as their opponent in both games.
With the two wins against the Spartans, the T-Birds now hold a regular season record of 2-2. They will travel to Saskatchewan next week to take on the Huskies.
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