By Ahmed Najdat (UBC Sports Information Assistant)

VANCOUVER – A dominant opening quarter from the UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team set the tone as the Thunderbirds defeated Victoria 71-48 Saturday night at War Memorial Gym. With the win, the Thunderbirds start the season 2-0, while the Vikes fall to 2-2.

Much was expected heading into Saturday night's affair after a nail biter the night before, which saw the Thunderbirds rally for a late 63-60 victory. However, it was clear from the opening tip that would not be the case this evening. The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 19-5 lead after 10 minutes of play. Six players hit the scoresheet in the opening quarter for UBC, including Harleen Sidhu who had five points and seven rebounds in the quarter. 

Kris Young, who finished the night with a game-high 15 points credited the team's strong defence for the win. UBC forced 19 turnovers, limited the Vikes to 32 per cent shooting from the floor including just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc.

"it all comes back to our defence, we kept the ball in front of us and we didn't let them get in the paint," said Young.
 
Not much changed in the second quarter as UBC maintained its 14-point advantage at halftime leading 31-17.

The lead increased to 22 points in the third quarter as UBC went on a 19-6 run, The Vikes trailed 50-28 through three quarters of play. 

The fourth quarter allowed UBC head coach Deb Huband to use her entire bench as UBC crusied to the 71-48 victory. 

All 12 UBC players hit the floor with 10 of them scoring a point.

Sidhu finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, Kara Spotton chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Diana Lee had 10 points and four assists.

Victoria relied on Nicole Karstein (14 points and five rebounds) and Jenna Bugiardini (12 points and three rebounds) for over half of the team's points, but their efforts were short of matching up to the Thunderbirds on this night.

Next weekend, the Thunderbirds (2-0) will travel to play the University of Alberta in a pair of games in Edmonton, while the Vikes (2-2) have a bye.

IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds