VANCOUVER, British Columbia – After starting the conference season 8-0 the Trinity Western Spartans dropped their second game in a row, losing 66-60 to the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 8-2 while the victory improves the Thunderbirds to 10-2.

Fourth-year guard Hailey Van Roekel (Langley, B.C.) with 12 points, and six rebounds, third-year forward Gracie Corneau (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 12 points, and four rebounds, and fourth-year guard Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 11 points, and seven assists led the Spartans. While Mona Berlitz with 13 points, and eight rebounds, and Emily Martindale with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists led the Thunderbirds.

AS IT HAPPENED
Coming out the gate, both teams matched Friday night's energy. The Spartans started fast with back-to-back layups from Van Roekel and Cassidy Buchanan respectively, but the Birds responded. Berlitz answered with the bucket on the inside, Martindale added a triple and Sofia Bergman scored an and-1 lay-up.
 
Van Roekel followed up to shift things up, as she scored an and-1 layup, but the play suddenly slowed down by the defensive execution from both teams. But when Emilia Banmann checked into the game, momentum shifted. She was the dominant force behind the Thunderbirds success on the inside. Coming off the bench, she gathered six offensive boards that turned into eight points for the Birds in the first-half.
 
The Spartans ball movement helped them stay within five though the second. Shemaiah Abatayo created space with the dribble moves, went to the free-throw line and set up for peers, Blessing Ibekwe and Corneau who both finished open looks underneath the rim.
 
At half, the T-Birds led 36-34.
 
To start the third, Sara Toneguzzi knocked down a triple, while Martindale added to the fire by making a three of her own; making it three for three in the afternoon. Space opened up for more opportunities on the inside, but the defensive pressure allowed for quick transition offense and put the Thunderbirds in the driving seat with a 50-36 lead.
 
Spartans' Abatayo took matters into her hands to rally the team back. She hit a triple, a layup and set up Van Roekel for a jumper and drive to send her to the free-throw line to get the team within seven, 52-45 to end the third.
 
Jayden Gill found some stretches to get the team going late in the fourth. Gill drove left and found the glass for a two and in back-to-back possessions, got through the Birds' defence to score another lay-up as the clock expired.
 
With less than two minutes in the fourth, the Spartans threw everyone to the offensive glass, but were unable to find the back of the rim to make a comeback, as the Thunderbirds made the defensive stops down the stretch to hold on to the win.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"Another frustrating finish - we made some great adjustments from yesterday and showed a lot of maturity from one night to the next but the key phrase is missed opportunities. We felt that we gave that fourth quarter away with missed easy takes and ill-advised turnovers. This will motivate us to keep getting after it as we were so close but just not close enough."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 34.8 percent (24/69) from the field, 12.5 percent (2/16) from the three-point line, and 90.9 percent (10/11) from the foul line. UBC finished shooting 36.9 percent (24/65), 36.8 percent (7/19), and 68.8 percent (11/16) respectively.
• The Thunderbirds finished the night with a 45-44 edge in rebounds, while UBC had a 2-1 edge in blocked shots.
• The Spartans are 7-54 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• Friday night the Spartans lost 69-64.
• The Spartans, who were 8-0, had never started a CW conference season 9-0. TWU started the 2021-22 season 8-0 before losing to UFV, 70-47.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home to face the Victoria Vikes on January 12-13. Game times are set for 6 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday's game will be played on the campus of TWU at the David E. Enarson Gym. 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
-TW-