BOX SCORE VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds handed the No.8 Calgary Dinos their first loss of the season Friday night at War Memorial Gym, pulling away at the end of the third quarter to take a 70-58 win.
The Thunderbirds pounded the boards and shot 48 per cent from the field.
Leigh Stansfield led the way with a double-double 21 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs. Kris Young followed up with 18 points and nine boards, shooting an efficient 7-11 from the floor.
Jessica Franz and
Tamara Jarrett had 13 points apiece for the Dinos (8-1).
UBC looked a bit flustered by Calgary's in-your-face defence, giving up 18 first-half turnovers, twice as many as Calgary. Despite this, the Thunderbirds walked off for halftime with a 31-27 advantage thanks to a 23-14 edge in rebounding and 46% shooting from the floor.
Calgary came back out in the second half using a trapping defence and got off to a quick 8-0 run. The Thunderbirds didn't put up any points until Adrienne Parkin split a pair of free throws three minutes in. The Thunderbirds soon found their rhythm again, with Young in particular coming alive for 12 points in the third quarter. With seconds remaining, Parkin's block on a Calgary drive sparked a UBC fast break. Stephanie Bell (North Vancouver, BC) hit a layup at the buzzer to give put UBC up by 10, their largest lead thus far.
The Thunderbirds carried this momentum into the final quarter, and back-to-back 3-balls by Parkin and Alyssa Binns (Port Moody, BC) had them up 16 early on. The lead grew to 17 with two minutes remaining, prompting Huband to put in her reserves and give her starters a rest.
The Thunderbirds finished the game with a massive rebounding margin, hauling down 19 more boards than the Dinos.
UBC had 47 boards in the end, and nearly had three players with double digits. Parkin and Young each had nine to go along with Stansfield's ten. Parkin also dished out a game-high four assists and had three blocked shots. The second-year forward has worked her way into the starting lineup and tonight logged 33 minutes of playing time.
The Dinos wrap up their Pacific road swing Saturday night with a date against the Victoria Vikes at MacKinnon Gym. Tip-off goes at 6 p.m. MT, live on cgy.CanadaWest.tv.
-30-
