LANGLEY, British Columbia – In a battle between two top Canada West teams, the Trinity Western Spartans fell 84-72 to the No. 8 Alberta Pandas Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 9-4, while the victory improves the Pandas to 10-3.
 
Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 24 points, and four assists, and Jolene Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) with 15 points led the Spartans attack, while Emma Kary with 24 points, and 11 rebounds, Morgan Harris with 14 points, and six rebounds, and Janna Harpe with 12 points, and eight rebounds led the Pandas.
 
TWU came out strong to start the game and led Alberta 22-17 at the end of the first quarter. But the Pandas came out strong in the second quarter, outscoring TWU 28-18 to take a five-point, 45-40 lead into the halftime break.
 
Alberta continued to outpace TWU in the third quarter, taking an 18-point, 71-53 lead into the final frame. The Spartans made a late push to cut into the lead but still fell by 12-points, 84-72.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
 "Today's game were two well-coached teams who were battling against each other. I think that we demonstrated a high level of basketball play in the first and fourth quarter. But, we have to find that style of play in the middle of the game, it continues to be something that we struggle against. It didn't cost us last weekend, but it cost us today."
 
"With some defensive adjustments and a better understanding of returning to our style of play, which is moving without the basketball and getting each other open, and taking the best possible shots, I think that we will have success. I don't think that we were far off today. To lose that kind of game by six baskets, that you had opportunities to score, just goes to show that we can play at this level and we can play against this type of team. We just need to finish the things that we started. And if we can do that at a higher level then I'm looking forward to seeing what we have learned from this game going into tomorrow."
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 4-29 lifetime against the Pandas.
• The Spartans and Pandas last met on January 25, 2020, in a 70-49 Alberta win. The last time TWU defeated Alberta was February 16, 2018, when the Spartans won 70-64.
• TWU shot 37.9 percent (25-66) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-17) from the three-point line, and 69.2 percent (18-26) from the foul line. While Alberta shot 42.1 percent (32-76), 21.7 percent (5-23), and 78.9 percent (15-19) respectively.
• The Pandas had a 53-39 edge in rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Pandas will match up again tomorrow night in Langley. Game time is set for 5 p.m. and 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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