By Larry Read
Thompson Rivers University Sports Information
The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack had the brooms out at the Tournament Capital Centre on Saturday (Nov 24).
The Pack swept their closest geographical rival: the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat by beating them handily 87-61.
TRU moves to 3 and 5 on the year. The Heat are winless in 10 starts.
Six players were in double figures for the WolfPack led by Michelle Bos with 19 points. Leilani Carney had 14 points With Megan Rouault and Lauren Walkley adding 12 , Kanesha Reeves with 11 and Jordon Haggerty adding 10.
UBCO had two players in double figures: Ana Evans had 11 with Claire Feasby adding 10.
The Heat started 'hot' to begin the game ringing up a 6-0 lead before the WolfPack took their first lead at 13-12 thanks to a three pointer from Megan Rouault. TRU held a two point lead (17-15) after the first quarter led by Emily Vilac's 5 points. Ana Evans had 7 for UBCO.
In the second quarter, The WolfPack stretched their lead to 12. Rookie Walkley came off the bench to pace TRU with seven points in the period. TRU up 39-25. In the first two quarters, the TRU bench outscored the Heat bench 12-7.
TRU started to steamroll in the third quarter as they outgunned UBCO 30-16. Carney poured in 11 points in that period while Reeves added six.
In the fourth quarter it was more of the same, with both benches getting all their reserves in. Rouault's five points helped her earn the "TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack player of the game" honor. The Heat did outscore the Pack 2-18 in the final stanza.
This was the latest chapter in the "President's Cup" series between the two schools. It is a competition involving UBCO and TRU squads in Canada West basketball, volleyball, soccer and cross country. On the Women's side, Thompson Rivers leads with three wins, a loss and a draw.
The WolfPack and Heat will wind up their pre-Christmas portion of their Canada West season at home next weekend.
TRU will play host to the University of Alberta Pandas on November 30th and December 1st. The Heat will entertain the University of Fraser Valley Cascades at the "Furnace" in Kelowna, BC the same dates.
Tip for TRU and Alberta will be 5 pm. That game will be the WolfPack's contribution to the USPORTS "CIBC shoot for the cure" initiative where money is raised for breast cancer research.
All WolfPack games—home and away—are webcast on a pay per view basis on Canada West TV.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
THEY SAID IT!! (post game quotes):
TRU Assistant Coach Chuck Ferguson::
On shaky first quarter but strong finish: "We sustained a good effort for 36 minutes. The first four minutes we were a little rusty. Really happy with our performance across the board."
Commenting on the third quarter where they scored 30 points: " Michelle Bos had a double double tonight. She shot the ball well. Megan Rouault was absolutely phenominal with five steals and seven boards and added a bunch of points. We really locked it down. One of our emphasis at half time was the first five minutes of the third and I thought the girls put the effort in to close it out right there."
On the sweep helping their confidence: "It is huge in terms of confidence and huge in terms of the standings. It puts us back into a playoff mix at 3 and 5 with one weekend to go before Christmas. For us this was a huge weekend."
Video of post game interview: click here
UBCO interim head coach Bobby Mitchell (1st season):
On the result: "We were a little bit better in the second half but pretty disappointed with this afternoons game overall. I thought we got off to a better start but things didn't go our way down the stretch of the first quarter. We thought about it too much. I have to do a better job of getting them prepared out of half time."
Video of post game interview: click here