LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans fell 62-57 to the UBC Thunderbirds in a defensive battle Friday night at the David E. Enarson Gym at TWU in Langley, B.C. The loss is the first of the season for TWU, who fall to 4-1, while the UBC improves to 3-0 in Canada West.
 
Nicole Fransson (Edmonton) with 14 points and seven rebounds, Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 14 points and four rebounds, and Jolene Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) with 11 points and six rebounds led the Spartans. While Olivia Weekes (Winnipeg) with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Mona Berlitz (Schrobenhausen, Germany) with 13 points and six rebounds led the Thunderbirds.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The two teams struggled to control the basketball and find the basket in the opening quarter. TWU ended the first 10 minutes leading UBC 8-5. The Spartans shot just 21.4 percent, 3-14, and had nine turnovers, while the Thunderbirds shot 22.2 percent, 2-9, and had 10 turnovers.
 
The Spartans and T-Birds found their rhythm in the second quarter with TWU leading 25-24 at the end of 20 minutes. TWU shot 43.8 percent, 7-16, in the second quarter, while UBC shot 33.3 percent, 7-21. The Spartans continued to struggle with turnovers with eight in the quarter to the Thunderbirds three.
 
The Thunderbirds were the better team in the third quarter as they doubled the Spartans 25-12 to take a 49-37 lead into the final quarter. UBC caught fire and shot 55 percent, 11-20, in the quarter, while TWU struggled shooting 27.3 percent, 3-11.
 
UBC maintained their double-digit lead through much of the final quarter. TWU made a strong run late in the game to close to a four point deficit with 30 seconds remaining, but the Spartans were unable to catch the T-Birds as UBC held on for the five point victory, 62-57. TWU outscored UBC 20-13 in the quarter and shot 28.6 percent, 6-21, while UBC shot 40 percent, 4-10.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"Today was a tough loss. I think that we had a defensive game plan that worked out fairly well in the first half. We contained a lot of the things that they were looking for. We just didn't take advantage of our offensive opportunities today and it cost us in the end. The stagnate start early, the easy misses early cost us. You only have so much time to take advantage of what your opponent isn't doing well before they figure things out. The first quarter offensively was not the start that we needed either. We just didn't respond to some of the frustrations of not making some of the easy looks that we can create."
 
"Obviously, the third quarter wasn't the statement that we wanted to make defensively. The things that we had done well defensively in the first half we did not carry into that quarter."
 
"We played to a level that hurt us today. It isn't a recipe for success when you have the amount of turnovers and the unforced errors that we had today. Yet, despite all that we still had a chance to win today's game. I know that we can clean up a lot of those things going into tomorrow's game. The game plan now is to look at what we did, correct some of the defensive situations that were too easy for them. But for the most part it is about making the easy stuff offensively knowing that they are going to make adjustments too. So I'm looking forward to seeing the resiliency of this group moving into tomorrow's game."
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are now 7-51 against the Thunderbirds.
• Tonight's loss breaks TWU's three game winning streak against UBC.
• TWU finished the night shooting 30.6 percent (19/62) from the field, 26.3 percent (5/19) from the three point line, and 63.6 (14/22) from the foul line, while UBC finished at 40 percent (24/60), 35.3 percent (6/17), and 53.3 (8/15) respectively.
• The Spartans had a 44-41 edge in rebounding. TWU had 24 turnovers, while UBC finished with 25.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will match up again tomorrow night against the T-Birds.  Game time is set for 5 p.m. PT at the David E. Enarson Gym on TWU's campus. The game can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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