On Saturday, the Thunderbirds women’s basketball team earned a resounding victory of 97–47 against the University of Northern BC Timberwolves, bringing themselves to first in the Canada West standings at 10–1.
Off a 79–35 win against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack on Friday, the ‘Birds started this half of the season strong with back-to-back wins against two different opponents. For head coach Isabel Ormond, the team’s performance was good, especially for the first weekend back after the winter break.
“I like that we kept taking care of the details,” she said. “It’s easy to take your foot off the gas and stop working on things you need to work on.”
The Thunderbirds were strong on both the defensive and offensive front with 25 steals and 50 rebounds. Mona Berlitz helped lead the team’s win with 26 points scored and going 10/11 on free throws. Cerys Merton pulled an impressive six assists and five steals.
“She really … is the heart of our defence,” said Ormond. “[She] picks up energy that gives us momentum to play in the full court and play at pace on both ends.”
In the first quarter, the Timberwolves’ Sveta Boykova scored the first points in the fourth minute but Berlitz soon put the ‘Birds in the lead with a layup and two free throws.
The Timberwolves struggled against the T-Birds’ intense defence, fighting to get in close to the net, but were often forced to shoot from afar to avoid shot violations. The quarter saw a riveting end in the last four seconds when Stella LaGrange launched the ball across the court, resulting in a buzzer beater by Olivia Weekes for a 27–14 score.
The ‘Birds started the second quarter with high intensity with a three-pointer from Maddy Billings and six consecutive points by Jessica Clarke. UBC continued their lead, scoring 26 points. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Timberwolves fired back with three three-pointers by Viktoriia Filatova and Bella Mesquita, bringing the ‘Birds’ lead down to 24 points by halftime.
“[We] still gave up too many threes in a row to some of their top players, so that’s a piece [we'd] like to clean up,” said Ormond.
The Birds’ strong defence and offence continued throughout the third quarter, outscoring the Timberwolves 15–3 by the seventh minute. The quarter ended with a UBC 80–36 lead and the T-Birds allowed only 11 points in the fourth quarter, cinching their victory of 97–47.
Next up, the Thunderbirds will play University of Fraser Valley Cascades, fifth in the Canada West standings, on January 17 at War Memorial Gym for a two-game series.
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