LANGLEY, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans had a slow start but came out with a strong second half in a hard-fought 79-61 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 8-7, while the win moves the Thunderbirds to 13-2.
 
TWU trailed by 13 points, 44-31 at the half, but cut the UBC lead to 56-51 heading into the fourth quarter. The Thunderbirds outscored TWU 23-10 in the final 10 minutes to make it an 18-point win for UBC.
 
Third-year guard Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 16 points and six rebounds, rookie-guard Colette Van der Hoven (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists, and second-year centre Blessing Ibekwe (Coquitlam, B.C.) with nine points, and seven rebounds led the Spartans.
 
Keira Daly with 21 points, Mona Berlitz with 16 points, and Jessica Clarke with a double-double of 12 points, and 11 rebounds led the Thunderbirds.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Thunderbirds will complete the weekend series at the Langley Events Centre tomorrow afternoon. Game time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul.
"We had some great stretches against a good team, but we had some ball control issues in the first and fourth quarters that will teach us how important it is to maintain possession against a good team. We hit some good shots today that were created by others and that's when we are at our best - when we are making things happen for each other and playing connected. We are looking forward to continuing our process of understanding what it takes to be ready to respond to an increased level of pressure but really excited by some great defensive and team offensive stretches that we can build on moving forward."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
In the first quarter, the Thunderbirds took an early lead against the Spartans, with Mona Berlitz scoring a layup at the start and later hitting a 3-pointer, contributing to a 9-2 advantage. Despite the Spartans' efforts, including a late 3-pointer by Cassidy Buchanan, the Thunderbirds maintained control, ending the quarter with a 29-18 lead.
 
In the second quarter, UBC and TWU traded points with the Thunderbirds to maintain a slight advantage through the quarter. A late 3-pointer by Keira Daly widened UBC's lead to 40-27, with UBC finishing the quarter ahead 44-31.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, the Spartans capitalized on UBC's turnovers to cut the UBC lead to four points, 54-51 with the Spartans outscoring the Thunderbirds 20-12 in the quarter.
 
The Spartans were looking to close the gap in the final 10 minutes, but the Thunderbirds capitalized on turnovers and 3-point shooting to outscore the Spartans 23-10, to close out the game with the 18-point win.
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, 35.7 percent (5-14) from the three-point line, and 60 percent (6-10) from the foul line. While the Thunderbirds shot 43.9 percent (29-66), 40 percent (8-20), and 59.1 percent (13-22) respectively.
• The Spartans had a 41-30 edge in rebounding.
• UBC finished with 19 steals to TWU's six. The Spartans had 31 turnovers to the Thunderbirds 15.
• TWU lost to the UBC 69-52 on November 2 to open up Canada West play earlier this year.
• The Spartans are currently 7-56 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• Last week the Spartans lost to the UBC Okanagan Heat 78-50 in their lone game at home on Thursday, January 23.
• Last week the Thunderbirds lost 78-75 to the Victoria Vikes in Victoria, B.C. in their loan game of the weekend.
• Shemaiah Abatayo currently has 219 career assists. Passing former Spartan Jayden Gill (215) four sixth spot on the TWU all-time conference assist total.
• Abatayo is second on the all-time assists per game at 3. Laura Craig (05-09) holds the TWU record at 3.2.
• Abatayo is also second in assists/game in a single season a 4.9 (68/14) this year. Trailing only Luca Schmidt's 2015-16 season at 5 per game (101/20).
• First-year guard Collette Van der Hoven has 31 steals in CW conference play this season. The TWU record for steals by a rookie is 35, set by former Spartan Katie Howatson (Haworth) in 2005-06.

 
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.
 
-TW-