LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans dropped their second game of the weekend 76-65 to the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at the David E. Enarson Gym at TWU in Langley, B.C. The loss drops TWU, who fall to 4-2, while the UBC improves to 4-0 in Canada West.
TWU Nicole Franson (Edmonton) with 31 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 16 points and two rebounds led the Spartans, while Hailey Counsell (Port Moody, B.C.) with 21 points, Olivia Weekes (Winnipeg) with 18 points, six rebounds, four blocks, and Sara Tonequzzi (Hamilton, Ont.) with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists led the Thunderbirds.
UBC came out strong to start the game and quickly jumped out to a 19-6 lead at the end of the opening quarter. The second half saw the teams match points as the Spartans trailed by 13 points at the half, 36-23. TWU's best quarter was the third as they outscored UBC 20-14, to trail 50-43 heading into the final frame. The T-Birds quickly turned away the Spartans challenge to start the final frame with a 6-0 run to lead 56-43. TWU never recovered as UBC earned the 11 point win, 76-65.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"This entire weekend was a battle. Half the time we are battling our opponent and half the time we are battling ourselves. It's just a constant struggle to stay consistent with what works for us. We had some great transition scoring looks and we had some great movement scores sprinkled in throughout the game, but especially in the second half. So as much as I'm disappointed in that we lost both of the lost both of these games, I'm happy that we rediscovered the things that I think are going to help us find success."
"Every weekend your opponent is going to poke holes in your game and UBC did that from both sides of the ball this weekend. So now we take that information and we move into next week."
"I asked the team to bring the best of what they had today and in the second half, I saw a group of people that were trying to do their best with what they had. And as a coach that makes me proud of the fact that they didn't give up on each other and they didn't give up on themselves. And at the end of the day that is what is going to help us become more resilient to win games next weekend and the weekend after that as we move into second semester."
"It was really nice to see Nicole get her finishes at the rim and finish with strength today. Which is what we have been waiting to see for a few weeks now. Now we just need to get on board with all the other things that have to happen around those inside touches."
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are now 7-52 against the Thunderbirds.
• TWU finished the night shooting 16/58 (27.5 percent) from the field, 3/3 from the three point line and 24/32 (75 percent) from the foul line, while UBC finished shooting 27/57 (47.3 percent) from the field, 9/16 (56 percent) from the three point line and 14/18 (77.7 percent) from the foul line.
• The Spartans had a 28-24 edge in rebounding; and 12 turnovers to UBC's 19.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head to Victoria, B.C. for a pair of games against the Vikes on November 25 and 26. Both games 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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