LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by fourth-year guard Jayden Gill's (Abbotsford, B.C.) 28 points the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 65-54 Saturday night at the Langley, Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The weekend sweep moves the Spartans to 10-6, while the loss drops the Cougars to 6-10 in Canada West conference play.

After trailing 18-9 at the end of the first quarter the Spartans led 28-26 at the half.

Fourth-year guard Kailey Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.) with seven points, third-year guard Ryann Lee (Calgary, Alta.) with six points, and three rebounds, and first-year centre Blessing Ibekwe (Coquitlam, B.C.) with seven rebounds, two points, and one block also contributed to the Spartan win. Luca Nora with 17 points, and five rebounds, and Isabella Faba with 10 points, and seven rebounds, and three steals led the Cougars.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans struggled early and were unable to find the bottom of the basket for the first four minutes with the Cougars leading 8-0. MRU continued to control the opening period and led 18-9 after 10 minutes of play. TWU gradually found their range in the second quarter, and an 11-4 run over the final five minutes had the Spartans leading by two points, 28-26 at the half.
 
TWU continued their strong play out of the break and back-to-back three-pointers by Jayden Gill put TWU up 42-30 five minutes into the second half. The Spartans exchanged baskets with the Cougars over the next five minutes and led 50-38 entering the final quarter.
 
Mount Royal pushed to start the fourth quarter and cut the Trinity Western lead to eight points, 53-45, after a basket by Tanis Metcalfe.  But that was as close as the Cougars would get. A three-point basket by TWU's Lee put TWU up 63-50 with just over two minutes to go to secure the Spartans win, as TWU finished with the 11-point win, 65-54.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"I think the slow start hurt us, but what I really liked was the defensive pushback that we were able to maintain until we found our offence. Unlike yesterday where we had to make a tremendous push in the second half, it was really nice to see that push earlier in the game. And that is just some of the lessons that we are learning along the way.
 
You look back two or three weeks ago and these were things that we weren't doing well. The amount of improvement that this team has shown, in understanding the value of possession and what we have to do. There are still some things that we are going to have to work through, but we are starting to find the right people at the right time."
 
"We have players coming in and making some huge contributions. It may just be one short corner jumper or an offensive rebound, or one non-turnover. But the reality of it is, is that that is exactly what we need in those moments. We have some athletes who are making great pushes, and we have others who are slowing things down when we need to be a little bit more controlled. We are trying to play to all of our athletes' strengths. When they come in and do those little things well then our team is going to have success. We just need to keep getting a little bit better and a little bit deeper each weekend. I think it was great to come away with two wins against a very physical team."
 
"It all starts with Jayden though. She has been holding the fort down for us offensively at times. Defensively she always makes an impact on the game, but it is great on how other people are coming in and contributing and helping her get her looks but also her being able to find other people for their best looks."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 36.5 percent (23/63) from the field, 27.3 percent (6/22) from the three-point line, and 81.3 percent (13/16) from the foul line. MRU finished shooting 35.4 percent (17/48), 50 percent (6/12), and 50 percent (14/28) respectively.
• MRU had a 42-36 edge in rebounding.
• The Spartans finished with 16 turnovers, while the Cougars finished with 26.
• Trinity Western defeated Mount Royal 76-59 Friday night.
• The Spartans are 10-2 lifetime against the Cougars.
• In preseason play this season the Spartans lost 65-39 to the Cougars on October 13.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Cougars in conference play was 69-54, February 8, 2014.
• TWU is 9-1 in conference play against MRU and is currently on a six-game winning streak in conference play.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the UNBC Timberwolves on February 2 and 3 for the final home conference games of the season. Game times are set for 6 p.m. and 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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