Vancouver, BC - The No.10 UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team improved to 15-5 on the season with a 68-55 victory over the UBC-Okanagan Heat at War Memorial Gym. Saturday's win marked the 'Birds eighth straight victory as Harleen Sidhu and Kris Young once again paced UBC with 21 and 20 points respectively.
Tied at 15-15 in the second quarter after Claire Elliott hit a three for UBC-Okanagan, the Thunderbirds took control as they distanced themselves from the Heat outscoring the visitors 16-3 down the stretch to lead by 13 at the break. The run was led by Sidhu, who had 11 points in the opening quarter, and rookie Lauren Seabrook, who chipped in with with six points.
The Heat though would not go away quietly as they mounted a charge in third quarter, going on an 8-0 run of their own to cut the lead to five points. However, UBC would have an answer, responding with 10 straight points, highlighted by a Cassandra Knievel three pointer to just beat the shot clock and extend the Thunderbirds lead to 15 points, 48-33.Â
After cutting the lead to 12 points through three quarters, the Heat once again chipped away at the Thunderbirds advantage, getting it down to just seven points as Elliott hit her second three of the night, giving her a team high 12 points. This time Kris Young would have none of it, scoring nine of her 20 points in the final frame to help UBC earn its 15th victory of the season, 68-55.
"At times we fell apart defensively and let them get a series of consecutive scores," said UBC head coach Deb Huband. "Anytime that happens you have to find a way to either put your foot down or get a score. Thankfully we were able to do that at certain times or it would have been closer then it was."
Sidhu added nine rebounds to go along with her 21 points to lead the Thunderbirds in both categories on the evening. Adrienne Parkin, Stephanie Bell, and Young each had eight rebounds of their own.
With the victory UBC remains atop the standings in the Pacific division with just two regular season games remaining in the regular season. They will play a home and home series next weekend against Victoria. The Vikes lost Saturday night and are one game back with a record of 14-6. Fraser Valley has an identical 15-5 record as the Thunderbirds after sweeping UNBC this weekend. The top two teams in the division will host a quarterfinal match up in the first round of the playoffs.Â
"It's always this way," said Huband. "It always seem to come to down to the very last game on the very last weekend, not just on our side but on the other side as well. It just shows the importance of every game.The picture is clear right now, we know what we have to do in order to host, but that's okay because it prepares you for playoffs."
