Eoin Colquhoun, Pronghorn Athletics
LETHBRIDGE – Playing in the final conference game of the first semester, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's basketball team completed a weekend sweep of the visiting Fraser Valley Cascades with a 82-74 win.
With the win the Pronghorns head into the break with their best record in school history, sitting at 10-2. The loss drops the Cascades to 4-8.
"Gutsy victory tonight against a feisty UFV team," said Pronghorn head coach Dave Adams. "The Cascades battled hard as expected and pushed the contest to the very end."
"Really pleased and proud of our team in the first semester but we need to continue to improve to have a deep playoff run."
Kacie Bosch and Zoe Dahl did the majority of the damage for the Pronghorns, scoring more than half of the Pronghorns total points. Bosch scored a game high 23 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Dahl picked up 21 points, including an efficient 4 of 6 from long range.
"Kacie and Zoe played their best game together tonight and continue to find each other's strengths," said Adams of the play of the two guards.
Sara Simovic, who was named to the Canada West all-rookie team with the Pronghorns in 2014, led the Cascades with 21 points. She also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Amanda Thompson chipped in with 15 points and Shayna Litman contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Despite a shorthanded roster, the Cascades were gritty throughout the 40 minutes but just didn't have an answer for Bosch and Dahl. Due to injuries, the Cascades only dressed eight players and relied on heavy minutes from Simovic, Litman and Kate Head.
In a sloppy opening quarter by both teams, Zoe Dahl hit a three in the final seconds to give the Pronghorns a 19-16 lead, one that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Throughout the second quarter, the Pronghorns flirted with a double digit lead and running away the game early. However, a late bucket from Katie Hankins pushed the Pronghorns to a 44-33 lead at half time.
In the opening half, the Pronghorns were an efficient 51.7% and made 11 of 15 free throws. The Cascades didn't shoot ball as well finishing 9 for 23 (39.1%) but only missed two of 14 free throw attempts.
Fraser Valley continued to hang around in the third quarter, cutting the Pronghorn lead to only four points as the quarter neared the midway point. However, a 10-0 run by the Pronghorns halted any momentum the Cascades had gained and home side carried a 10 point lead into the final quarter.
Just when it looked like the Pronghorns would cruise to their 10th win of the season, Fraser Valley again made the game interesting, cutting the game back to a two possession game and with just over a minute to play Simovic's three-pointer brought her team with in five. In response to Simovic's bucket, Kacie Bosch followed up with a three of her own and on an ensuing Cascade turnover Dahl sealed the win with a bucket with 33-seconds to play.
On the night, the Pronghorns and Cascades were almost identical statistically with both teams shooting just over 43% for the night. Both teams also hit six three-pointers and turned the ball over 19 times but the Pronghorns grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to the Cascades 7, leading to important extra looks. The Pronghorns also hit six more free throws on the night.
Both teams will now head into the semester break. The Pronghorns will return to conference action with a road trip to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Bisons, January 5th and 6th. The Cascades will return the action the same week with a home-and-home series with the Trinity Western Spartans.