The UNBC Timberwolves, still in the hunt to secure their spot in the postseason, looked like a team not willing to have their season end on Saturday, January 27th. An incredible first half of offense propelled the TWolves to an 82-66 victory over the visiting UFV Cascades at the Charles Jago Northern Sports Centre.
On the final night of the regular season, and the final home game in the careers of Emily Aase and Kylie Pozniak, the Timberwolves put up 33 points in the opening quarter, including eight from Pozniak.
The push continued into the second quarter when Maria Mongomo, who led the Twolves in scoring with 27, helped push the point separation to 53-31 going into the second half.
The Cascades pushed in the third quarter, fueled by Sara Simovic, who repeatedly got to the paint and finished a number of difficult layups. She would finish with 24 points.
But the supportive Northern Sport Centre crowd would go home happy, as the Timberwolves made stops when it counted down the stretch. The lead was narrowed to eight points, but that's as close as the Cascades could get.
Along with Mongomo's 27 points, six rebounds and five steals, the Timberwolves got 20 points and 12 rebounds from Vasiliki Louka and 10 points and nine assists from Madison Landry.
The Cascades were led by Simovic, along with 18 points from Shayna Litman, and an 11 point, 12 rebound effort from Taylor Claggett.
"We played our game and we left it all on the court," said Pozniak. "Yesterday, our defense was low energy and it led to our offense being low energy. Today we came ready to play."
With the win, the Timberwolves conclude their regular season with a 9-11 record. They will wait to see how the final week of the season plays out, but have put themselves in a strong position to book their second consecutive trip to the playoffs.
"It's a good feeling being in this position," said Pozniak. "We now have two weeks to prepare. It's a good chance to work out all the kinks."