By Larry Read
Thompson Rivers University Sports Information Officer
-The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack go into the Christmas break with a 3-7 record in Canada West women's basketball.
The Pack were swept at home by the Alberta Pandas. The Pandas taking Thompson Rivers 83-67 on the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre on Saturday night (Dec 1).
The Pack were down 22-20 after the first quarter and trailed 45-37 at the half.
Alberta was led by Emma Kary with 16 points. Lauren Earl and Jenna Harpe had 14 points with Vanessa Wild adding 13.
Michelle Bos was again the top scorer for TRU. She had 26 points. Leilani Carney added 12.
Alberta goes into the break at 8 and 3. The WolfPack got more 'points in the paint' than the Pandas winning that stat 34-32
The WolfPack got out to an early lead and battled the Pandas point for point the first quarter, Alberta got a late basket to end the period up by two (22-20). Vanessa Wild had seven points for the Pandas in the first quarter while Michelle Bos paced TRU with 9 points.
The Pandas outgunned the WolfPakc 23-17 in the second quarter. Jenna Harpe had five points to lead Alberta. Leilani Carney with six for Thompson Rivers.
The teams battled it out in the third quarter with Alberta leading by 11 by the end of that period. Bos had 7 for TRU in the third quarter while the balanced attack of the Pandas continued. Lauren earl had three giving her 12 on the night at that point while Vanessa Wild had four giving her 11.
Alberta outscored TRU in the fourth quarter 20-15 en route to the victory.
The WolfPack and Pandas now break for Christmas exams and the holiday season.
Both teams return to regular season play in early January. Alberta will entertain the Manitoba Bisons on January 4-5 th. The WolfPack will head to Prince George, BC for a pair of games against the UNBC Timberwolves.
The next home game for Thompson Rivers will be Friday, January 18th when they entertain the University of Regina Cougars on the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre. Tip off will be 5 pm.. That game will be webcast starting at 5:50 pm on www.Canadawest.tv with James Matthews and former TRU player Vince Watson providing the play by play and color commentary and Dylana Milobar providing interviews.
All WolfPack games—home and away—are webcast on a pay per view basis on Canada West TV.
The TRU Bookstore/McDonalds "Leader of the Pack" Player of the game was: Megan Rouault (2nd year, guard, Vernon, BC) who had six points and six offensive rebounds, two assists and a block in 16 minutes of floor time.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
THEY SAID IT!! (post game quotes):
TRU Assistant Coach Chuck Ferguson::
On the Contest: "We were a little more happy about the result tonight. I think the effort was there but the experience wasn't. We still had too many turnovers. They are still a little better team than us on the inside. A little more experience, a little bigger. Overall, I thought the girls put up a hell of a fight. I was really proud of them. We always get a great game out of Michelle Bos and Leilani (Carney) was exceptional as well. To see Rou (Megan Rouault) have a great night was huge. She had a great night diving for balls, not necessarily statistically but more leading by example and hard work. It was nice to see her do that."
Video of post game interview: click here
Alberta Head coach Scott Edwards ( 13th season):
On the difference in this game from Friday: "We had balanced scoring throughout. That was great for our team to see some others step up. Last night we relied on Vanessa Wild to score a lot. Today we had four athletes get double digits. That is always big for us. I thought we were aggressive. There were points in the game where we looked aggressive defensively. Credit to Thompson Rivers, I thought they shot the ball a lot better than they did yesterday. They put on our heels a bit. We are a work in progress but I thought we made some strides defensively."
Video of post game interview: click here