Emily Kanester finishes with 17 points and Claire Elliott scores 11 in the second half to comeback on UNBC 57-52.
Friday, January 22nd, 2016
Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, Prince George, BC
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T UBC Okanagan (9-3) 10 13 18 16 57 UNBC (2-11) 16 10 16 10 52
PRINCE GEORGE, BC- Once again it was the UBC Okanagan women's basketball team's strong team defense that overcame a poor shooting start to allow the Heat to warm up to the UNBC rims and comeback and post a five-point win in Prince George 57-52 on Friday night over the Timberwolves.
The win is the fourth in a row for UBC Okanagan and ninth on the season, the Heat's record now sits at 9-3 and Claire Meadows team remains tied with Thompson Rivers for second spot in the Explorer division, just one game behind the MacEwan Griffins.
The UBC Okanagan Heat made a fourth-quarter comeback at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre with Emily Kanester pacing the Heat with 17 points, three steals, and two rebounds, while Claire Elliott added 13 points, three boards and two assists. Elliott scored 11 of her 13 in the second half. Kanester went 8-10 from the free throw line, UBCO totaled just 9-14 from the charity stripe for the game.
Robyn Aulin-Haynes made a solid contribution off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds for UBC Okanagan, who shot 40.4 per cent from the field. The
For the Timberwolves (2-11), Vasiliki Louka had a strong game at both ends of the floor with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Stacey Graham made an impact off the bench with 10 points of her own.
Preety Nijjar had herself a game on the glass for the Timberwolves, pulling down 11 rebounds, the Heat's leading rebounder was freshamn Jordan Korol, she finished with seven and is now averaging 4.9 a game.
However, UNBC got beat down low, as the Heat outscored the Timberwolves 36-22 in the paint.
The Timberwolves started the game out strong, with a pair of Kylie Pozniak three-pointers stretching UNBC’s lead to 11-4 midway through the first quarter, eventually ending the opening frame up 16-10.
The second quarter started out favouring the Timberwolves, with a Hannah Pudlas triple giving UNBC a double-digit lead at 26-16 with 5:24 before halftime.
However, Pudlas’s three was the last basket UNBC made in the first half, as the Heat cut the Timberwolves lead to 26-23 heading to the locker rooms.
UNBC and UBC Okanagan went back and forth for the majority of the third quarter, with neither team holding a lead of more than two possessions.
The Heat took their first lead of the game at 41-40 with a minute to play, though a buzzer-beating layup from Nijjar restored UNBC’s lead at 42-41 with 10 minutes to play.
The game turned early in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves went cold, not scoring for the first 4:48 of the quarter while the Heat went on an 11-0 run for a 52-42 lead, which they would not relinquish.
First year coach Claire Meadows thought her team performed well but far from perfect and well look at cleaning up their defense before Saturday's game.
"We pride ourselves on our defense and I didn't think we came out ready to play. We need to look at some of our defensive rotations [prior to Saturday's game] as they were getting clean looks at the three early. Our pressure was good throughout the game and we were able to tire them out by the fourth quarter allowing us to go on the run."
UNBC and UBC Okanagan will battle again on Saturday at 5 p.m. to complete their season series, a game which can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
~ with notes from Geordie Carragher, UNBC Sports Information