The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER - The No. 10 UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team extended its winning streak to seven games on Friday night with a commanding 83-57 win over the 3-16 UBC Okanagan Heat. With the victory, UBC improves its conference record to 14-5 and remains tied atop the Canada West Pacific Division.
 
BOX SCORE

Harleen Sidhu was seemingly unstoppable in the first quarter, going 6-for-6 from the field; she led the Thunderbirds to success with a game-high 22 points, making 11 of her 16 field goal attempts, while Stephanie Bell and Cassandra Knievel had 13 and 12, respectively.
 
Emily Kanester, Sarah Allison, and Claire Elliott each tallied 10 points and two steals for the Heat. Kanester also led the team with five rebounds.
 
The game opened with a beautiful dish from Kris Young to Harleen Sidhu low in the key. Sidhu recorded the layup and got the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard, setting the tone for the game. Young got the crowd roaring just two minutes later as she stole the ball at midcourt and tore down the court on a breakaway to tally a Thunderbird basket. While UBC's posts remained aggressive on the boards and under the net throughout the quarter, the guards pushed the ball up the court, with Knievel, Maggie Sundberg, and Young asserting relentless defensive pressure. A crisp pass from Sundberg to Andrea Strujic gave the 'Birds a final field goal at the buzzer, putting UBC ahead 24-13 going into the second.
 
A three-pointer from Jamie Hills started off the second quarter; the Thunderbirds carried that momentum as different players began to rotate into the game. Knievel hit two three-pointers in two minutes midway through the quarter, and with two minutes to go in the half, the 'Birds had extended their lead to 20, despite the Heat's guards' increasing defensive pressure. Two consecutive foul shots from UBC Okanagan's Shenelle Tamminen closed the quarter, and UBC led 43-25 going into halftime.
 
In the third, the Heat pressed to get back in the game. Angela White's layup with 4:14 to go in the quarter capped off a 9-2 run that closed UBC Okanagan to within 13 points at 51-38. Kanester provided five points in the run to go along with a bucket from Sarah Allison.

That would be as close as the visitors would get in the second half as the Thunderbirds regained their rhythm. With 4:55 left in the fourth, the 'Birds had extended their lead to 30.
 
Thunderbirds head coach Deb Huband was pleased with her team's performance this evening.

"At times, I thought we transitioned really well; we beat them up and down the floor," she said. "They were trying to trap and press, and if you remain composed in those situations, you have an advantage to find the easy score," she said. "I thought Harleen had a good start to the game, with her intensity. She set the tone for us in the first quarter. We didn't maintain that intensity for forty minutes; but, we had some nice moments."
 
The Thunderbirds saw excellent communication between posts and guards throughout the evening, with 67 per cent of their points coming from in the paint.

"We like to beat our opponent down the floor, if we can, and provide that early look for the post players. We run a lot of screen-and-roll which, if teams are having trouble defending the guard's off the screen it should open up our posts," Huband stated. "The better spacing we have, the more opportunities we find."
 
Tonight's game supported KidSport Vancouver, a charity that provides funding for families who can't afford to put their kids into sports. Every made UBC foul shot and missed UBCO foul shot resulted in a $20 donation from UBC Athletics. That combined with money raised through a raffle at the game, a $795 cheque was presented to the foundation at the end of the game.
 
The same teams will finish off the weekend doubleheader on Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.