UBC Okanagan women’s basketball team slug it out with the Cougars and hang on for a 44-40 win Friday night on Kenyon Court. The rematch is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. (PST).
Friday, January 15th, 2016
Kenyon Court, Calgary, AB
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T UBC Okanagan (7-3) 12 13 12 7 44 Mount Royal (1-10) 3 15 15 7 40
CALGARY, AB– The UBC Okanagan women’s basketball claimed their second win of the second semester after scratching out a four point win (44-40) against the host Mount Royal Cougars at Kenyon Court on Friday night. The win is the Heat’s second in a row and third against MRU this season the Kelowna squads record jumps to 7-3 while dropping Mount Royal’s record to 1-10.
UBC Okanagan first year head coach Claire Meadows, who has just set the UBC Okanagan record for wins by a women’s basketball team in a Canada West season with seven, stated “Mt. Royal’s pressure gave us a lot of problems. They completely disrupted our flow on offense and we were consistently battling the shot clock. Although it wasn’t our best game the team was able to find a way to win – showing composure and some maturity when we face pressure or adverse situations.”
The team had twice before won six games in Canada West (2014/15, 2012/13).
The visiting, Heat came out of the gate in the first quarter with tenacious defense and quickly went on a 4-1 run and then a spell of ice-cold shooting fell all over both sides. Neither team was able to find the basket for minutes on end. The Heat’s Chloe Kennedy finally made a jumper to break the deadlock and put the Heat up five. The Heat went on a 6-2 run from there and took a 12-3 lead into the quarter break.
In the second quarter, the Cougars were able to find more of a rhythm and bounced back scoring six straight points to shave the Heat’s lead to five. Junior, Shenelle Tamminen was able to effectively come in off of the bench and assist her team with five quick points in limited minutes to keep UBC Okanagan out in front (25-18) at the midway buzzer.
The second half for both teams started off slow as neither team took charge of the game. Ball pressure and battles in the paint along with high fouling led to both teams going to the charity stripe. The Cougars were able to effectively shoot the ball within the ten minutes of play which led to a 33-33 Shenelle Tamminen scored four late points including a buzzer beater to store the UBC Okanagan lead after three quarters of play.
The atmosphere in the gym was intensified in the fourth. The Cougars and Heat led furious rushes down the floor. Down four both the Cougars and Heat’s offence went stagnant and needed a spark. The Cougars Michelle Tiffany was able to take charge and make three-pointer to bring the Cougars to within one. Within the final minutes heightened defense forced Mount Royal to foul. The Heat made both free throws putting them up by three. Michelle Tiffany had an open look from three-point range to tie the game but the ball just rattled out. UBC Okanagan went to the line again and sealed the game, winning 44-40.
It is no surprise that neither team shot with any kind of efficiency in a game where the score totaled under 90. Both team’s were stagnant when shooting the ball. The Heat went (14-63) giving them only a 22.6% from the field compared to the Cougars equally abysmal (16-58) 27%.
The Heat were led by Tamminen who scored 11 points. Point guard Claire Elliott followed with 10 points and Kayla McFadden with eight.
The Cougars were led by Becky Nash who had 12 points and was followed by Michelle Tiffany with 11 points.
The battle on the boards in tonight’s matchup was close as the game, UBCO hauled in 42 rebounds to the Cougars 38.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s came coach Meadows stated “We will have to look at different options when breaking pressure. We need to be a lot more aggressive in our attack”
The Cougars and Heat will clash again on Kenyon Court, on Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. (PST).
~ Tia Sadler // Heat Communications // with notes from Justin McCaffrey, Mount Royal Cougars Sports Information