The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team buckled down on defence in the second half on Friday, en route to an 83-57 victory over the UNBC Timberwolves in their regular season home opener.
UNBC shot 60 per cent from the field in the first half, but the Cascades got a buzzer-beating jump shot from Shayna Litman and took a 47-40 lead into the break.
Nataliia Gavryliuk
It was all UFV from there – the hosts limited the T-Wolves to 26.1 per cent shooting in the second half, including just seven points in the third quarter.
“The first half was not very good,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said afterward. “We came out really sluggish defensively, and defence has kind of been our calling card over the last number of years, so it was frustrating to have a start like that and get into an up-and-down, run-and-gun sort of game with them. It’s really not what the game plan was tonight.
“But in the second half, we settled down a little bit and played defence how we wanted to play, more characteristic of how we want to do it. It created some offensive opportunities for us and stuff in transition, and it kind of blew the game open for us.”
UFV (3-0) and UNBC (0-3) renew hostilities on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre.
Sarah Wierks and Nataliia Gavryliuk scored 18 points apiece for the Cascades, while Litman (16 points), Katie Brink (10 points) and Celeste Dyck (nine points, four assists) also chipped in offensively.
Sarah Buckingham racked up a game-high 24 points for the Timberwolves, while Cassie Rerick scored 11.
It was uncertain during the week whether fifth-year point guard Dyck would play on Friday due to a tailbone injury, but she came off the bench and gave her team a spark.
“I was ready to play,” she said.
“We came out with high energy, we came out strong. And then in the second (quarter), we didn’t play D very well. In the last five minutes, it kind of got away from us. Our game plan coming out of halftime was to just keep going at them – high energy, run the ball in transition, keep getting it into the post. And it ended up to be a win tonight.”
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