Oliver Rizun, Heat Sports Information
KELOWNA, B.C. - Vanessa Botteselle scores a dozen and Jordan Korol once again comes away with double-digit rebounds but the UFV Cascades used size, depth, and defence to send the UBC Okanagan Heat to a 73-48 loss at home in their last Friday night women's basketball game of 2018.
The Heat were held to just 24.5 percent shooting on the night as the Cascades rotated strong defenders into their lineup all night, holding the Heat to just five points in the first quarter and 17 at the half.
With the early 10-point bulge the visiting Cascades distributed the minutes evenly all game as both teams went 12-deep on the night.
Korol finished with 10 boards along with eight points and a steal for the Heat while Vanessa Botteselle racked up 12 points to be the only Heat player in double figures. Botteselle also had six rebounds and four steals for UBCO.
It was once again Taylor Claggett leading the way for the Cascades, now winners of three straight games, Claggett finished with 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Eight of her points came from the free-throw line, as she was an efficient 89% (8 of 9) from the stripe.
Abby Zawada finished just behind Claggett with 17 points, including five made triples while Veronica Kobes came off the bench for 10 points and eight rebounds in just 19 minutes
The Cascades improve to 6-5 on the season as we near the midway point, while the Heat drop their 11th straight to start the Canada West season.
These two teams will be on the floor once again tomorrow night in Kelowna with tip set for 5 p.m. PST in the final game before the holiday break.
Heat bench boss Bobby Mitchell commented on how his team needs to get off to better starts and left a lot of points out there.
"We felt like we left a lot of points on the board in the opening quarter as we missed five or six good looks along with missed free-throws. Our compete-level tomorrow will be a lot better off the hop, and we will look at some film and try to come up with a better game plan."
First half:
It was a slow start for the Heat as they let the Cascades build a 14 point lead after the opening quarter, which included just five points in the first 10 minutes for UBCO.
Both teams would struggle to score in the second, as there were just 22 combined points in the frame, 12 of these from the home team. The Heat made just seven field goals on 33 attempts in the first half, with two of these being triples.
Second half:
It was a fairly comfortable second half for the Cascades as they built upon their 12 point halftime lead and expanded this to 19 at the end of three. The fourth was nearly a formality as UFV scored 24 points in the final frame, their most in any quarter on the night.