LANGLEY, B.C. – In the first game of a home-and-home weekend series, Fraser Valley came away victorious, as the Cascades earned a 72-61 win over Trinity Western Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. 

The Cascades Deanna Tuchscherer had a career-high 35 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Taylor Claggett had a game-high 15 boards and 10 points for UFV.

TWU's Nicole Fransson (Edmonton) had a double-double, with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Kianna Wiens (Regina) had a team-high 16 points and Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) equaled her career high of 15 points.

The rivalry contest saw the Cascades (9-4) snap a five-game losing streak against TWU (3-10).

With just over five minutes to play and the Spartans closing the score line to within two points, 55-53, the Cascades responded with a tidy 4-0 run that put control back in UFV's corner. The visitors held at least a four-point lead the rest of the way.

The Cascades opened a 20-12 lead through the first quarter only to see TWU respond with a 6-0 run to close the gap at the start of the second quarter. However, from there, it turned into a defensive battle with both teams scoring just eight points each in the frame and UFV holding a 28-20 at the break. 

UFV found its rhythm in the third quarter opening up a 10-point lead, 49-39, through 30 minutes. Tuchscherer had 21 points after three quarters, while Franson and Gill had 11 points apiece for the home side. 

The fourth quarter saw TWU roar back to make it a game, but the Cascades finished the night outscoring TWU 17-8 over the final five minutes. 

QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul – TWU Head Coach
"That was a missed opportunity. We have spent the last four games getting beat up and I really felt that we had an opportunity to show that we learned something in those four games. Unfortunately, we didn't take advantage of the situations that we were in. We handled one of their key scorers quite well, but we let the other one go off. The first thing I said to the team was that we lost by 11 and we missed 17 free throws. I don't have much more to say after that. If we're not making those shots and we're not making the shots we typically have been making in the last four games, we're not going to have a lot of success. 

"I thought we had a great defensive second quarter, which I was hoping would set the tone for how we would play in the second half. Unfortunately, that's not how we responded. The good news is that we have a day of recovery to get ready for Saturday night's game and I'm very confident that we've learned a lot of hard lessons today that we'll take advantage of going into Saturday."

NOTABLE
•    The Spartans finished the night shooting 12.5 per cent from 3-point range (3-24), while UFV shot 18.2 per cent (4-22).
•    UFV was 69.6 per cent (16-23) from the free throw line, while TWU was 51.4 per cent (18-35).
•    TWU was coming off a pair of losses to UBC last weekend, while the Cascades have won three in a row including a pair of wins last weekend at UNBC (Jan. 10-11). 
•    The last time Fraser Valley beat TWU was Nov. 11, 2016 (60-47).
•    The Spartans will look to snap what is now a five-game losing streak in Saturday's rematch. TWU has been swept by both No. 1 Saskatchewan and UBC this year.

NEXT UP
The rematch between TWU and UFV is Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre in Abbotsford, B.C.

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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