By Larry Read

TRU Sports Information Officer

KAMLOOPS, BC---The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack had a strong first quarter and then withstood a spirited comeback by the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves to split their weekend Canada West women's basketball series.  The score  on Saturday (Dec 2) was. 91-80.

SYNOPSIS

The WolfPack wanted to push up the tempo of the game after Friday's 86-61 defeat, and they did that in the opening quarter. They jumped to a 22-9 lead thanks to an eight point quarter out of rookie Makayla Hoey (1^st year, guard, Parksville, BC).  Michelle Bos (4^th year, guard, Surrey, BC) chipped in with seven.

The second quarter was a 'run and gun' affair as UNBC outscored TRU 24-23. Madison Landry  (2^nd year Forward, Prince George, BC) scoring all 12 of her first half points in that period. TRU holding a 45-33 advantage at the break.

The third quarter saw UNBC double their rebound total from the first half. They had 17 going into the period and had 35 after it. Vasiliki Louka (4^th year, post, Athens, Greece) had five of her 13 boards to that point. Landry had nine points leading the Timberwolves offense in that period.

UNBC continued their strong play in the fourth quarter. With seven minutes left, they had tied the game at 70. But back to back baskets by rookie Jordon Haggarty (1^st  year, guard, Saskatoon, SK)  pulled the WolfPack to a six point advantage (79-70) with less than four and a half minutes left.  Leilani Carney (3^rd year, guard, Burnaby, BC) hit a couple of three point baskets down the stretch en route to her career high 21 point night and being named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds "Leader of the Pack" Player of the Game.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

click here

KEY STATS:

Thompson Rivers :

Michelle Bos: 15 points, 6 rebounds (4 def), 2 assists, 1 block: 30 mins

Jordon Haggarty: 17 points, 4 defensive rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals: 27 mins

Shenise Sigsworth (5^th year, forward, Kamloops, BC):5 points, 7 rebounds (4 def), 4 assists,4 steals: 31 mins

Makayla Hoey (1^st year, guard, Parksville, BC):14 points, 6 def rebounds, 3 assists: 23 mins

Leilani Carney : 21 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal: 39 mins

UNBC:

Madison Landry: 23 points, 6 def rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal:32 mins

Maria Mongomo (3^rd year, forward, Las Palmas, Spain):10 points, 9 rebounds (7 def), 2 steals, 2 assists:38 mins

Vasiliki Louka :23 points, 15 rebounds (10 def), 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal: 38 mins

Kylie Pozniak (5^th year, guard, Okotoks, AB):17 points, 3 rebounds (2 off),2 steals, 1 assist: 30 mins

 Turnovers:

UNBC: 19    TRU: 17

Rebounds:

UNBC: 44 (21 defensive)   TRU: 40 (32 defensive)

Score by Periods:

TRU:            22   23  21   25  --91

UNBC:          9    24  25   22   --80

RECORD:

TRU 7-5   UNBC 4-8

QUOTES:

TRU Assistant Coach Chuck Ferguson::

On turnaround from Friday: " It was kind of the things that cost us the game on Friday night, we were able to fix and win it on Saturday. We took better care of the ball, we were better on the glass. We were pushing the ball hard and we wanted to push hard. We felt that they had been on the road two weekends on a road and that is hard to do. We were hoping that they were going to find it hard to run with us. I think towards the  end of the game that was the case and that gave us the push right in the fourth to close it out."

Was this a character victory? " Huge character victory by the whole team. Leilani Carney was nothing short of incredible tonight. Guarding a Spanish National team kid. Running the floor and contributing points. Megan Rouault (1^st year, forward, Vernon, BC) gave us tough minutes in the third and fourth. Michelle Bos and Shenise Sigsworth were crazy good all night. All the girls worked super hard but definitely Leilani stands out."

Video of post game interview: click here

UNBC Assistant Coach Mark Johnson:

On the tempo being turned up and his teams fatique of four straight on the road: " They came out flying. We expected them to come out with the high tempo. They changed their lineup and we knew they were coming out for speed. Our shooting percentage in the first quarter was terrible. Theirs was great. In the first half they shot 50 per cent from three. When those are going down it is hard to defend."

On their resiliency coming back after that first quarter: "It is tough when you dig yourself such a big hole. We really battled back to give it a game and gave ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. We are also short a few players. First time this year we had some scratches. That was difficult and when three people fouled out, it made it challenging to juggle."

Video of post game interview: click here

UP NEXT:

The  WolfPack and Timberwolves have completed their pre-Christmas Canada West regular season.  The WolfPack don't play again until December 29^th and 30^th when they host the Trinity Western University Spartans in a pair of exhibition games at the Tournament Capital Centre.

TRU returns to regular season play Friday, January 5, 2018 at the University of Victoria.   UNBC will open the 2018 portion of their schedule hosting the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat on Friday, January 5, 2018. The regular season games will be webcast on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV.