LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans used free-throws down the stretch and solid defence to defeat the Manitoba Bisons 80-64 in Canada West women's basketball Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win keeps the Spartans unbeaten at 7-0, while the loss drops the Bisons to 2-7.

Trinity Western led 37-35 at the half, and 59-51 at the end of three quarters.

Third-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) with 18 points, and six rebounds, and fourth-year guard Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 17 points, four steals, and two blocks, and fourth-year guard Hailey Van Roekel (Langley, B.C.) with 11 points, and nine rebounds, and first-year centre Blessing Ibekwe (Coquitlam, B.C.) with 11 points, and five rebounds all hit double-digit scoring for the Spartans. While Autumn Agar with 23 points, six rebounds, and Emerson Martin with 11 points were the double-digit scorers for the Bisons.

AS IT HAPPENED
The two teams were even through the first five minutes with Manitoba holding a one-point lead 11-10. But the Spartans gathered momentum at the end of the quarter to take an 18-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Bisons and Spartans exchanged baskets for the first five minutes of the second quarter with TWU extending their lead to 29-21. But Manitoba made their free throws in the final five minutes to cut the TWU lead to two-points, 37-35 at the end of the first half.

TWU looked to take control to start the third quarter taking a 55-43 lead with four minutes remaining. But Manitoba hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the TWU lead to six-points, 57-51. The Spartans would get the final basket of the quarter to give TWU an eight-point lead, 59-51, at the end of the first 30 minutes. The two team exchanged baskets to the two minute mark of the fourth quarter, then with TWU up 71-63 the Spartans defence took over. TWU allowed only one point from Manitoba over the final two minutes as the Spartans made their free throws, going six-for-six, to seal the 16-point win.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"It's a game of opportunity for them, which is not necessarily how we play. I think that we do a great job of creating for each other. The goal for us is to find the best possible scoring look, which at times we did a great job of doing that. I think that we have a combination of a lot of different types of scoring looks. We had some great inside touches with allowed some rim attacks to be created. But it was really about what we needed to defensively today. Early on we really struggled with their inside scoring look, but we did a much better job of dealing with that in the second half."
 
"It is just about understanding what another team has to do to win a game when you get in to the last 10 minute stretch. They are starting to play with more urgency and they are starting to look for faster shots and outside shots and quick scoring looks. I don't think that we scrambled well for the little stretch that they went on a run in the third quarter. But I think that we settled down and recognized that we were playing with the lead and not from behind. And that mindset shift really helped us focus on continuing to find great scoring looks for each other."
 
On the group offence mindset
"It really helps when you have two dynamic guards who can create scoring looks not only for themselves but for others as well. There was a lot of unselfish play in terms of getting inside touches and looking for each other. We have some things to work on, but the biggest part for us all semester has been to finding ways to get a little bit better, keep getting more experienced, and keep getting a little more confident. It is fun watching all five players moving together and looking at finding good looks for each other. That is going to be the tough team to defend for other teams. Because if you take away one thing then something else is going to get created and when you find that second look or third look it is exciting, because all the work that the whole team had been putting in had been paying off."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 45.5 percent (25/55) from the field, 33.3 percent (4/12) from the three point line, and 68.4 percent (26/38) from the foul line. While Manitoba finished shooting 32.8 percent (20/61), 29.4 percent (5/17) and 70.4 percent (19/27) respectively.
• The Spartans finished the night with a 45-34 edge in rebounds and a 5-4 edge in blocked shots.
• Last week the Spartans defeated the Brandon Bobcats 111-58, and 80-65 in Brandon, Man.
• Last week Manitoba lost to the Lethbridge Pronghorns 71-68, and 77-72 at home in Winnipeg, Man.
• The Spartans are 15-15 lifetime against the Bisons.
• Fourth-year guard Jayden Gill is the Spartans Athlete of the Week after averaging 25.5 points, three steals, and 5.5 assists per game in Brandon.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Bisons was 59-56 on November 12, 2011.
• The Bisons are TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul's alma-mater.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Bisons will match up again tomorrow night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Game time is set for 4 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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