Peter James, UNBC Communications
PRINCE GEORGE - Rookie Madison Landry scored seven straight points as the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Trinity Western Spartans 82-81 in a second-straight Saturday night thriller at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.
The Timberwolves, who trailed by 12 with under five minutes to play in the game finished on a 14-3 run to earn their first win on the season and move to 1-5 against Canada West Universities Athletic Association competition. The Spartans fall to 4-2 on the year.
"We were down by quite a bit, so to come back we kept pushing and pushing and that's the kind of team we've got this year," Landry said. "We've been working so hard in the pre-season and up to now this year, it's so nice to get a win."
Vasiliki Louka led the way with 19 points for UNBC, including three foul shots down the stretch. Maria Mongomo had 17 and Landry finished with 16.
Kylie Pozniak got the rally started with an old fashioned three-point play to cut the lead to nine and set the tone for the comeback. The formula: driving to the basket, making foul shots and playing aggressive defence.
With 1:10 to go, and the Timberwolves still down six Landry took over. First she made two free throws, then with 24 seconds left took a feed from Louka and drained a three to make it a one-point game.
Nine seconds later she stole the ball on defence, ran the length of the court and was fouled driving to the basket. Two more made free throws later and it was UNBC in front for the first time since the first half.
The first-year player showed the composure of a veteran at the line.
"I was just thinking, 'this is just another free throw, you have to calm down.' It was pretty hectic," Landry said.
For the Spartans it was a disappointing finish after overcoming an early deficit and taking control with a fast-paced offence and a defence that limited UNBC's top offence threats Louka and Maria Mongomo to a combined two points in the third quarter.
"If you look at the third quarter, when we were able to maintain the tempo we had the game in hand," Spartans head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul said. "I don't know if I've ever seen that many three-point plays in one quarter, that was extraordinary."
Tessa Ratzlaff led the Spartans with 21 points while Kayla Gordon added 20.
"There's a lot for us to learn from this," Jean-Paul said. "We've had some solid wins, we've had some battles throughout this entire first semester, a game like this is going to give us something to reevaluate our shot selection at the end of the game, how we chose to play with the lead, what I ran coming out of bounds, my timeouts, who we had on the floor, those are all things as a coaching staff we have to go back and reevaluate."
The Timberwolves got off to a hot start as Louka won the opening tip and proceeded to score the game's first basket. The third-year forward was perfect from the floor and the line in the opening quarter, scoring nine of UNBC's 23 first quarter points. Her counterpart Ratzlaff was her equal, scoring nine of Trinity Western's 21 points and didn't miss from the floor or the charity stripe either.
Both teams had their best runs of the opening half in the second quarter. The Spartans scored seven straight to open their biggest lead of the half at five points, but UNBC came right back with six straight to regain the edge. The lead changed eight times in the half, with the Spartans taking a five-point lead into the break at 46-41.
Trinity Western tightened up on defence in the third quarter and the Timberwolves offence hit a dry spell as the visitors built a 15-point lead at 67-52.
The Timberwolves were euphoric after the fourth-quarter comeback.
"It was awesome in the team room, everyone is really excited, really happy," Landry said.
The Timberwolves hit the road next weekend as they visit the University of the Fraser Valley for games on Friday and Saturday.
The Spartans are back at home and welcome Regina for a doubleheader Friday and Saturday.