Oliver Rizun, Heat Sports Information
KELOWNA, B.C. - The senior duo of Jordan Korol and Vanessa Botteselle came up big all night long as the Heat women were able to take down MacEwan 60-51 in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium.
The win is the first for the women's team since Feb.10th of 2017, the home team got off to a much needed quick start and led for the full 40 minutes. This also marks the first victory as a U SPORTS head coach for Bobby Mitchell, not surprisingly he was extremely pleased with his team's performance.
"I'm really happy for the players, they have been working really hard and trusting us and sticking with it and players win games so I'm really proud of them. It was a good team effort and we felt it the whole week. Every player in, whether it was a minute, or 40 everyone came in and contributed."
Botteselle would finish with 19 points along with 10 rebounds and eight assists, falling just short of the first triple-double in women's program history. Korol was a monster on the inside throughout, finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds for the home team.
For MacEwan it was Mackenzie Farmer and Kayla Ivicak doing most the damage as both would finish with 13 points in defeat for MacEwan.
The glass played a huge part in the matchup, as UBCO had 10 more rebounds (48-38) in the win, including 16 on the offensive end of the floor.
Neither team was able to make many shots on the night, with both teams playing stifling defence all game long. MacEwan shot just 29% from the field while the Heat were able to survive the Griffins pressure and shoot 37%, knocking down six shots from long range.
These two teams meet up again tomorrow night in the Furnace with tip-off set for 5 p.m. PST.
Shoot for the Cure:
Friday night's game featured as 'Shoot for the Cure', which is a national initiative to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). With six made triples on the night, the Heat raised $600 dollars for cancer research plus and extra $130 in donations from the community. For more information on the event and where to donate you can click here.
First half:
It was a hot start for the Heat as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the first and would lead for the entirety of the first 20 minutes including 21-13 after the first quarter. This advantage would grow to 15 in the second quarter at 32-17 but the Griffins closed the half strong, cutting the halftime lead to just 34-26. UBCO had nine second-chance points off of 8 offensive boards in the half like MacEwan had just two second-chance points.
Second half:
The visitors continued their momentum following the break as they scored the first five points of the third quarter to trail by just three at 34-31 with eight minutes to go in the frame. UBCO responded well however as they were able to build up the lead back to double-digits at the end of the third 49-39. This advantage would be maintained for the majority of the fourth as well as MacEwan was not able to get any closer than eight points down.