LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans matched the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds for 40 minutes but found themselves on the wrong end of a 62-50 point game Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 1-1 in Canada West play, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 2-0.
 
Fourth-year guard Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.), with a career best 28 points and five steals, led the Spartans. While Olivia Weekes with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five steals, and Stella LaGrange with 10 points led the Thunderbirds.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the Fraser Valley Cascades on October 31 at 6 p.m. (PT) and November 1 at 4 p.m. (PT). Both games are at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul, TWU Head Coach
"I thought we competed today, but when we are scoring as many points as turnovers in multiple quarters, and constantly giving the other team a chance to maintain their lead, it is a problem, and I thought that the first quarter and the third quarter, we were trying to do too much."?
 
"When we had really good, high-percentage scoring looks, they came easily because it was the right decision at the right time for the right person. The tempo of the game was what it needed to be for us to have success against their length and size, but our turnovers in the half-court and our decision after decision to try to do too much hurt us."
 
"There are some quarters to go back and watch and reflect on, because if we can clean up even half of our turnovers, we will be better. Turning the ball over 33 times in one game and losing by 12 is fairly significant. We don't have to go from 33 turnovers to zero. We just have to reduce three turnovers per quarter, specifically the ones that we did to ourselves."
 
"In terms of overall effort, I thought Cass was finding the right scoring looks for herself, so it was great to have back-to-back games where she could do that; it's a solid start to the season for her. And I think that there are going to be some really good lessons to learn from playing against a team of this calibre. ?We have to be able to stay in our game for 40 minutes, and if we do that, I think we're gonna be pretty scary to play against."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds took advantage of Spartan turnovers to take a 16-9 lead at the end of the opening quarter. But Trinity Western responded and battled back to trail 25-24 at the end of the first half.
 
The defensive battle continued in the third quarter with the Thunderbirds outscoring the Spartans 13-8 to take a 38-32 lead going into the final 10 minutes of play. The scoring opened up in the final quarter as the two teams went back and forth, exchanging baskets. The Thunderbirds opened up at 10 10-point lead, 46-36, with 7:21 remaining. The Spartans responded and cut the lead to five points, 53-48, with just under four minutes remaining in the game. It was as close as the Spartans would get, as the Thunderbirds were able to come away with the 12-point win.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-18) from the three point line, and 62.5 percent (5-8) from the foul line, while UBC shot 34.4 percent (22-64), 27.8 percent (5-18) and 72.2 percent (13-18) respectively.
• TWU had a 40-36 edge in rebounds.
• The Spartans finished with 33 turnovers and 10 steals to the Thunderbirds' 17 turnovers and 16 steals.
• TWU defeated Victoria 76-67 Friday night in Victoria, B.C.
• TWU is currently 7-58 lifetime against UBC. The Spartans were 0-3 against the Thunderbirds last season. TWU's previous win against UBC was 68-61 on the road in Vancouver, B.C., on December 4, 2021.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 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-