VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds began their playoff run with a bang on Saturday afternoon, toppling the Regina Cougars 77-55 to advance to the Canada West semifinals.
"It was a great tone, and even this week we had really good energy," said UBC head coach Isabel Ormond. "As a coach, you always wait to make sure it's translating into the game, but I thought we came out super focused, super locked in knowing we were playing a really strong team and that's always nice to see from the bench. We're playing teams that are very likely gonna be at Nationals. Our semifinal matchup is gonna be that way, the Canada West final, if we get there, is gonna be that way. So it's great to have these opportunities in season and in playoffs to prep us for the Nationals tournament."
Fifth-year forward Jessica Clarke led the 'Birds a 16 point and 10 rebound double-double, Olivia Weekes put up 13 points, and Mona Berlitz had 10 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
"We had talked about surviving the first five minutes and we really didn't, they set the tone right away," admitted Regina head coach Dave Taylor. "We just never really recovered from that and credit to them, they're a very good defensive team. They just took us completely out of our rhythm and that was complete domination quite frankly so full credit to them."
Cara Misskey tallied a team-high 15 points with four assists for the Cougars, Jade Belmore added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Izzi Fust earned seven boards.
The T-Birds jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the first on a Clarke basket in the paint before
Stella LaGrange made it an 11-point cushion for UBC with a corner three. The 'Birds continued to push, and a
Sofia Bergman reverse layup brought them up by 17 to end the quarter 27-10.
Clarke finished in the paint for a 33-13 lead in the second, but Misskey converted on two drives to the basket to cut the deficit to 33-19. Weekes hit a mid range jumper to extend the T-Bird lead to 45-20 and Misskey went two-for-two from the line to send the teams into halftime at 47-22 UBC.
A Brenna Metz trey made the score 49-25 UBC early in the third, before Vanderhooft laid it in for two to bring Regina back within 20. The Cougars tried to hold on, but
Keira Daly responded with a triple for a 56-30 T-Bird lead. UBC continued to execute offensively, as
Emily Martindale and Bergman put up points for a 64-38 advantage after three.
Clarke opened the fourth quarter with a bucket in the paint and Bergman laid one in at 68-38. Alexyn Ward earned a three point jumper to cut the deficit to 73-50 UBC late in the quarter, but the 'Birds held steady through to the 77-55 win.
The Thunderbirds will continue their Canada West Playoff run at home against the Alberta Pandas in the semifinal on Saturday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m. PT.
