CALGARY, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans opened the 2026-27 preseason with a 79-69 loss to the defending U SPORTS silver medalist UNB Reds Thursday night at Kenyon Court at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alta. The win improves the Reds to 4-0 in preseason play, while the loss drops the Spartans to 0-1.
The Spartans trailed the Reds 41-40 at halftime, and 60-58 at the end of the third quarter after a back-and-forth first 30 minutes. UNB eventually pulled away with a 14-2 run to earn the 10-point win.
Fifth-year guard
Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and fifth-year guard
Myrlaine Shelvey (Langley, B.C.) with 21 points and four rebounds led the Spartans. Bailey Russell, with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Kylee Speedy, with 12 points and five assists, led the Reds.
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul, TWU Head Coach
"We knew that coming into tonight's game, it was going to be a very early, tough test, simply because of how successful UNB was last season, and knowing that they've returned some very skilled and experienced players, and they've played a few university games already, "
We are still missing a few pieces, and I think that's only going to help close some of the gaps we identified in today's game, but playing 30 out of 40 minutes at a very high level was exciting for us to see. Knowing the wheel's falling off a bit in the fourth quarter because of fatigue, that's something we now have to chase, but it's not chasing 40 minutes of competitive basketball."
"We're relying fairly heavily on a smaller group of athletes currently, but the goal is to keep building up and building up and building up so that we get more high-quality minutes from more depth, more roster, and those are things that are just going to come with a lot of hard work. So, the pieces are there."?
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish off the Cougars tournament tomorrow night against host Mount Royal. Game time at Kenyon Court is set for 4 p.m. (MT). The Spartans open Canada West conference play on Thursday, October 29, on the road against the UBC Thunderbirds
NOTABLE
- Today's game was only the second time in Spartan history that TWU has played UNB. They last met on October 18, 2007, when the Spartans defeated the Reds 72-68 at home in Langley, B.C.
- UNB swept its home Helen Campbell Tournament last weekend, defeating Guelph 113-48, Laval 67-61 and StFX 68-54 October 2–4.
- The Reds lost last year's national championship title game 77-68 to the Saskatchewan Huskies.
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 CIS 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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