Cole Tweed, Heat Sports Information
KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team played their final home game and fell to the UBC Thunderbirds 66-48 on Saturday night.
Keylyn Filewich and Gabrielle Laguerta combined for half of the Thunderbirds points to power UBC to the win in the UBC Okanagan "KidSport Night".
Playing their final games in front of their family for UBCO were Carly Corrado and Shenelle Tamminen. In the annual Seniors Night, the night of the last home games of the Canada West season, Corrado and Temminen were honoured as this year's graduating student-athletes.
With the win, UBC has locked up a playoff berth, moving up into the eighth spot in the Canada West standings. 12 teams make the conference postseason, so the win Saturday night puts the Thunderbirds in a comfortable position with regards to their playoff outlook.
First Half:
The first quarter of the second day of the UBC school's matchup proved a tougher fight than was expected by the Thunderbirds women's team. Some scrappy play by the Thunderbirds allowed the Heat to match their higher ranked opponents, with the first ending at a score of 10-8 for the Thunderbirds. Until the last two minutes of play, the Thunderbirds had fouled five times compared to the Heat's zero, allowing for three free throws to be sunk by the Heat, giving them an advantage over their rivals.
The Thunderbirds came out strong in the second, widening their lead with much cleaner play than was seen in the first quarter. Keylyn Filewich led the Thunderbirds with powerful play that got her 11 points in the second alone. By the end of the half, the Thunderbirds had increased their lead to 18 points on the Heat, and a half-time score of 39-21.
Second Half:
The third quarter followed suit with the first, as it had a much lower score difference and was lower scoring in general. The Heat won the quarter by a point thanks to a standout performance from Jordan Korol and hereight points. The Thunderbirds had multiple chances to make up ground from the Heat's five fouls, but it turned out to not be quite enough.
The back-and-forth continued into the last quarter of the game, as neither team seemed able to overpower the other. Both teams were charging hard, trying to gain a footing over the other, but this only led to fouls, which came to a total of five per team. The Heat played exceptionally better than Friday night's game, with only an 18-point difference at the end of the game opposed to Friday's 27. Their last home game of the season ended with a huge three-point buzzer beater by Anastasia Evans to make the final score 66-48.
Key Performers:
UBC Okanagan:
Jordan Korol had an impressive night with 14 points on 6-9 shooting. Emma Jonas finished with 12 points, and the Shenelle Tamminen, Vanessa Botteselle, and Anastasia Evans hit the KidSport threes.
UBC:
Keylyn Filewich was the scoring leader of the Thunderbirds with 17 points, Gabrielle Laguerta finished with 16. Both were perfect from the free-throw line on Saturday.
By the Numbers:
The Heat led Saturday night in three-point shooting, at 17.6%, whereas the Thunderbirds made 13.3%. The Thunderbirds led in all other categories, with 42.4% of field-goals made, 77.8% of free-throws made, and 12 assists. The Heat made 29.3% of field-goals, 68.8% of free-throws, and had 9 assists.
KidSport:
Every three-point shot made by the Heat was turned into a fifty-dollar donation to kid's sports. Three three-point shots were made by the Heat, making the total for the game $150 dollars.
Next Up:
The UBC Okanagan Heat Women (0-18) will play again February 2nd at 4 p.m. PST at the University of Winnipeg (12-6) for their final series of the season.
The UBC Thunderbirds (10-8) will take on the University of Victoria Vikes (14-4) in a home-and-home series next weekend. On Thursday evening they'll play in Victoria and on Friday evening they'll place at War Memorial on the Point Grey Campus.