LANGLEY, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans fell behind early and were not able to recover as they dropped a 78-50 decision to the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 8-6, while the win improves the Heat to 4-9.
 
Rookie guard Colette Van der Hoven (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with 13 points, and five rebounds, third-year forward Savannah Vander Kooi (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 10 points, and two rebounds, and fourth-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, BC) with 10 points, and two rebounds led the Spartans. Lily Pink with 15 points, and eight rebounds, and Tsuki Tsuzuki with 12 points and seven assists led the Heat.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will continue their home stand next week when they host the UBC Thunderbirds on January 31, and February 1. Game time at the Langley Events Centre is set for 6 p.m. (PT), and 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul.
"It was a tough one tonight. We really didn't show our best and obviously, the first half was a tough lesson to learn. We played a team hungry for wins knowing that every possession for them is the difference between making or missing playoffs and we didn't match that in the first half. I liked our response in the third quarter on both sides of the ball and although we couldn't overcome the deficit, at least we played with a sense of purpose. We talked about this second semester being two sprints. We get a few days to rest and then we need to get ready for the second sprint. I'm looking forward to taking this group to our next level but that comes from learning as much as we can from games like these."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans had a slow start to the contest and trailed the Heat 28-15 at the end of the first quarter. TWU's struggles continued in the second quarter with UBC O outscoring the Spartans 18-5 to take a 26-point lead, 46-20, at the half. TWU shot 28 percent (7-25) from the field, 14.3 percent (1-7) from the three-point line, and 62.5 percent (5-8) from the foul line, while UBC O shot 40.9 percent (18-44), 28.6 percent (4-14), and 75 percent (6-8) respectively.
 
Trinity Western had a strong start to the second half and outscored UBC Okanagan 14-4 to cut the deficit to 16 points, 50-34 five minutes into the third quarter. But TWU was unable to maintain the momentum as the Heat finished on a 13-7 run to lead 63-41 entering the final quarter of play. The fourth quarter saw the Heat shut the Spartans down, allowing TWU only four points in the final five minutes. UBC Okanagan finished the quarter outscoring Trinity Western 15-9 in the low-scoring final quarter to defeat the Spartans 78-50.
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 34 percent (18-53) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-17) from the three-point line, and 57.1 percent (8-14) from the foul line. While the Heat shot 37.2 percent (29-78), 28.6 percent (8-28), and 80 percent (12-15) respectively.
• The Heat had a 50-35 edge in rebounding.
• UBC Okanagan finished with 12 steals to TWU's six. The Spartans had 22 turnovers to the Heats 11.
• TWU split with the UBC Okanagan in their first two games of the season in Kelowna, B.C. Winning 73-59 on November 15 and losing 73-58 on November 16.
• The Spartans lost 63-57 in the opening round of last season's playoffs in Abbotsford, B.C.
• The Spartans are currently 20-8 lifetime against the Heat.
• Prior to tonight TWU was 6-1 over their last seven CW conference games, while UBC Okanagan was 1-6, with their lone win against the Spartans. Last week the Spartans swept their northern BC road trip, winning 67-33 over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack and 88-62 over the UNBC Timberwolves.
• Last week, the Alberta Pandas swept the Heat in Edmonton, Alta. winning 68-57 and 85-57

 
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.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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