VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans used a dominating fourth-quarter defensive effort to defeat the U SPORTS No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds 76-67 in their Canada West women's basketball season opener Thursday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C. The victory was the Spartans' first over UBC since December 4, 2021, when TWU defeated the Thunderbirds 68-61 in overtime, also at War Memorial Gym. Trinity Western opens the conference season at 1-0, while UBC falls to 0-1.
Fifth-year guard
Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 19 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and four assists, fifth-year guard
Myrlaine Shelvey (Langley, B.C.) with 15 points, five assists and five steals, and second-year guard
Mavleen Chahal (Kelowna, B.C.) with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds led the Spartans. Fourth-year forward
Blessing Ibekwe (Coquitlam, B.C.) added 10 points and seven rebounds, while second-year forward
Moriah Jansen (Spallumcheen, B.C.) finished with 10 points and four assists.
Mona Berlitz led the Thunderbirds with a game-high 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. Cerys Merton added 10 points and six assists, while Brooke Wagner finished with eight points, five rebounds and three blocks.
UP NEXT
The Spartans return to Langley for their Canada West home opener against the Victoria Vikes on Saturday, October 31, at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Game time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul, TWU Head Coach
"Great team effort and great display of maturity at the end of the game. We put ourselves in tough situations during the pre-season, tried to play some of the top teams in our conference so that we could be ready when the time comes to step up."
"We created for each other, made some big shots, found the right match-ups to exploit, and really did what we had to on the defensive end. Cassidy showed great leadership, and Myrlaine's tireless defensive pressure sparked our final push. This team plays with no ego, makes the next pass, and wants good things for each other."
"We know what it looks like to get one of these games and now we have to keep chasing this version of ourselves for the next one and keep our focus on one step at a time, knowing this is only game 1 of a long season."
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans opened the scoring with a Buchanan layup, but UBC responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-7 lead less than four minutes into the opening quarter. TWU battled back behind Buchanan, who scored nine points in the first 10 minutes, including a three-pointer to tie the game 14-14 with 4:18 remaining. The Thunderbirds regained the lead before Shelvey scored with one second remaining to cut the deficit to four points, 24-20, heading into the second quarter.
UBC extended its lead to six points, 28-22, early in the second quarter before the Spartans responded with an 8-2 run to tie the game 30-30. Shelvey scored eight points in the quarter, while third-year forward
Savannah Vander Kooi (Chilliwack, B.C.) connected from beyond the arc to give TWU a 37-34 lead with 4:13 remaining. The Spartans extended their advantage to six points, 42-36, before taking a 45-42 lead into halftime. TWU outscored UBC 25-18 in the quarter, shooting 50 percent (10-20) from the field.
The Spartans opened the second half with five straight points, including a Chahal three-pointer, to extend their lead to eight points, 50-42. TWU maintained its advantage through the opening six minutes of the third quarter, but the Thunderbirds responded with a 17-6 run to close the period. Berlitz scored six points in the quarter, including the final four points, as UBC took a 59-56 lead into the final 10 minutes.
The Thunderbirds extended their lead to five points, 61-56, to open the fourth quarter, but the Spartans took control of the game with a 13-0 run. Ibekwe started the comeback with a layup before Chahal connected on a three-pointer to tie the game 61-61 with 8:25 remaining. Buchanan put TWU ahead for good with a layup 29 seconds later. The Spartans' defence held UBC scoreless for more than six minutes as Shelvey added two free throws and Ibekwe scored inside to give TWU a 67-61 lead. Buchanan followed with a jumper to make it 69-61 before UBC ended its scoring drought. Ibekwe then added another basket to restore the eight-point advantage, 71-63. Shelvey then connected on a three-pointer with 1:52 remaining to give the Spartans their largest lead of the game, 74-63. TWU held the Thunderbirds to eight fourth-quarter points and outscored UBC 20-8 over the final 10 minutes to secure the nine-point victory.
NOTABLE
- The Spartans finished the night shooting 41.4 percent (29-70) from the field, 46.2 percent (6-13) from the three-point line and 85.7 percent (12-14) from the foul line, while UBC shot 44.4 percent (28-63), 20 percent (2-10) and 90 percent (9-10), respectively.
- UBC had a 30-29 edge in rebounds, while TWU held a 22-18 advantage in assists and a 17-10 edge in steals.
- The Spartans forced 22 UBC turnovers while committing 17 turnovers.
- TWU outscored UBC 20-15 in points off turnovers, while the Thunderbirds held a 38-36 advantage in points in the paint.
- The Spartans shot 61.5 percent (8-13) from the field in the fourth quarter, while holding the Thunderbirds to 28.6 percent (4-14) and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
- Ibekwe scored eight of her 10 points in the final quarter, shooting 4-for-6 from the field.
- Buchanan's seven steals were a career high and tied for fourth-most in a game in TWU's conference and overall record books. Shelvey recorded five steals and five assists without committing a turnover.
- The victory snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Thunderbirds. The Spartans' previous win over UBC was a 68-61 overtime victory on December 4, 2021, at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.
- The win improves Trinity Western's all-time overall and conference record against UBC to 8-60.
- The Thunderbirds entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the U SPORTS Top 10 and third in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll, while the Spartans were picked fifth in the conference poll.
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 and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 15 U SPORTS team championships and 35 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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