VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds got past the Alberta Pandas 80-66 on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Gym, thanks to a dominant 35-point third quarter. After trailing by 11 points at the halfway mark, the 'Birds surged to a nine point lead by the end of the third and held on to book their ticket to the Canada West final.
"I think we brought up our intensity on defense," said UBC head coach Isabel Ormond, when asked what flipped the switch at halftime. "Thirty five points is awesome for us, but they went scoreless in the first five minutes.?So doing that, coupled with defensive stops, it's that pair together. We were locked in and we did a great job so kudos to the girls for almost forgetting about the first half and playing our game, and I think you saw that come out in the third quarter."
Keira Daly led the 'Birds with 22 points and nine rebounds, Olivia Weekes had 13 points with 14 boards, and Mona Berlitz added 10 points and nine rebounds.
"I just think that was two basketball teams that played a hell of a ball game," said Alberta head coach Scott Edwards. "Each of us had our moments in the game and unfortunately the UBC run was later and longer than ours. It totally was a tale of two halves, I thought we played fantastic in the first half and they missed a lot of shots but obviously they cleaned that up in the second half and momentum is a funny thing and they got going in the third and just couldn't get that train stopped. Our team is phenomenal and that's our first loss since I think early November and we'll shake that, they're a great group, I love them to death and they'll compete whatever happens next weekend against whoever we play."
Claire Signatovich finished with a team-high 21 points for the Pandas, while Jayden Tanner and Reece Hall put up 19 and 18 points, respectively. Annacy Palmer was the only other player on the visiting side to score.
The Pandas jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first on an aggressive Signatovich drive to the basket. Alberta continued to execute effectively as Hall knocked down a three for a 19-11 advantage. UBC continued to push, and a Sara Toneguzzi layup followed by a series of free throws brought the 'Birds within four to end the quarter 19-15.
Hall sank a contested three early in the second for a 12-point Alberta cushion at 28-16. The score remained deadlocked at 28-16 until the three minute mark when Berliz threw up a layup. Alberta responded with a Signatovich bucket from behind the arc followed by an Palmer layup to conclude the first half up 33-22. The Pandas allowed just seven points in the quarter.
UBC came out firing in the third with a Jessica Clarke steal followed by a Keira Daly and-one to bring the 'Birds within one point of the visitors at 37-36. Weekes knotted it up at 40-40 before a Stella LaGrange layup got the crowd on their feet for the first major lead change of the game at 42-40. The T-Birds continued to shut down the Pandas defensively and a Keira Daly buzzer-beating trey ended the quarter at 57-48 UBC.
Jade Huynh opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from behind the three-point arc for a 60-48 cushion. The Pandas responded with a series of layups to cut the deficit down to 10, but the lead proved to be too much to overcome, and the 'Birds took the game 80-66.
Ormond praised the home crowd, especially as the team leads into the Final 8 tournament hosted at UBC.
"We love that," she said. "That's what we want. A gym that's on their feet screaming like cheering, that kind of excitement gives you home court advantage and it's so great to see the fans and the alumni that come out every week to our game day in and day out. We're playing for them and we're trying to bring home some hardware for them."
UBC is now set to face the winner of the Saskatchewan vs UFV matchup in the Canada West final on March 7.
