VANCOUVER. – For the second time in as many nights the Spartans women's basketball team fell to cross-town rival UBC, losing 100-57 on the road Saturday at the War Memorial Gymnasium.
TWU (3-9) dropped its fourth consecutive game with the loss, while UBC (10-4) earned its eighth win over its last nine outings.
Kianna Wiens (Regina, Sask.) had a team high 15 points for TWU while
Jolene Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) added 12 points and
Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) put up 10 points. The Thunderbirds meanwhile had six players reaching double figures to hit the century mark, as
Jessica Hanson had a game high 24 points followed by
Keylyn Filewich's double double of 23 points and 14 rebounds.
After the Spartans traded early buckets with the Thunderbirds, UBC created separation thanks to Filewich successfully completing a three-point play to give the hosts a 17-10 lead. Much like the previous night it was Wiens who stood out for TWU, hitting a jumper as part of her scoring nine of the squad's first 12 points to trail 17-12 before Counsel responded with a three-pointer to put UBC up 20-12.
The second quarter saw UBC use a balanced attack to outscore the Spartans 22-15 and take a 48-27 lead into halftime. Johnson led the way for the T-Birds with six points followed by Filewich and Penn adding five points each. For TWU it was Gill and
Kailey Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.) with a team high four points each.
Coming out of the break UBC continued to execute while both teams hit from long range. Hanson had a quarter-high 11 points thanks in part to stroking two more three-pointers improving to three for three from long range to give UBC a 68-35 lead. Counsel counted another three-pointer for the Thunderbirds before back-to-back buckets from downtown from Reimer and Julia Marshal (Langley, B.C.)l for the Spartans to trail 71-41.
To close out the fourth quarter Filewich and Metcalfe recorded six points each for UBC who shot an efficient 50 percent from the field on the night in securing the record the win.
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul – TWU Head Coach
"We had to slug it out with so many people playing out of position this weekend, but I thought we kept fighting despite our circumstance. It is about more than this weekend and this season at this point, getting some great opportunities for some as others are on the sideline and we hope that only deepens our roster and gives us more to work with for the remainder of the semester."
NOTABLE
- With the win, UBC head coach Deb Huband picked up her 338th regular season victory, more than any other coach in Canada West women's basketball history.
- TWU came into the weekend coming off a pair of losses to No. 1 ranked Saskatchewan at home, while UBC split a pair of road games on the road against UFV last weekend.
- The Spartans last win over UBC came on Nov. 18, 2017 in Vancouver (75-71).
- TWU has now won just once over its last 20 games against the Thunderbirds, including losing both its games at home against UBC last season (Jan. 11-12, 2019).
NEXT UP
The Spartans return home to face Fraser Valley (Jan. 16) at the Langley Events Centre.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
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