Abbotsford – The Cascades women’s basketball team (11-4) put in a dominant performance against the UBC Okanagan Heat (3-12) tonight at the Envision Athletic Centre, securing a 66-31 victory in textbook style. Courtesy of the win the Cascades remain first in the Pacific division, two points up on the Victoria Vikes and UBC Thunderbirds (both 10-5). UFV is also looking forward to a remarkable easy schedule (on paper) to finish the regular season, with only one remaining game against a team over .500 (the University of Regina Cougars on January 31).
The Heat were competitive early, and trailed only 14-9 after the first quarter. They lost their edge down the stretch, scoring only 6 points in the second, and never managing more than 9 per quarter all night. Both Emily Kanester and Sarah Allison, usually UBCO’s key scorers, were held off the scoreboard in the first half. The majority of UFV’s scoring in the half came from Nataliia Gavryliuk (8 points), Sarah Wierks (9 points), and Shayna Litman (8 points). By halftime UFV led 33-15, and the Cascades would continue to lead by double digits for the rest of the game.
Eleven of twelve Cascades finished the night with at least one assist (21 total), and the team generated 17 steals overall. Sarah Wierks led UFV’s scoring with 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Nataliia Gavryliuk added 13 points and three steals in a galvanizing performance. The Heat were led by Jessica Jazdarehee with 10 points.
“We had a good effort on the defensive side tonight,” said Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer. “Offensively we had a few stretches where we really shared the ball and good things happened. We would like to have a few more extended moments like that tomorrow. It’s important for us to build on these games as we compete for playoff position.”
UFV and UBCO will be back at it tomorrow at the EAC. The game will begin at five pm.
Watch online at canadawest.tv
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