The UBC Okanagan Heat went 0-3 at the Ranger Elite Cougar Classic women’s basketball tournament at Mt. Royal University in Calgary.
The Heat lost 66-60 to the Cougars, bowed 72-59 to the Lethbridge Pronghorns and fell 68-60 to the Montana State Bobcats.
Fourth-year guard Madison Kaneda, a Fulton grad, scored 12 points against Mt. Royal.
The Heat were down 31-19 to Montana State before equalizing late in the third quarter. The comeback was led by freshman guard Emily Kanester, a former VSS Panther who scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. She was eight for 12 from the field and nailed three of five long distance aerials.
“We played well and competed hard,” said Heat coach Heather Semeniuk. “We are just lacking in consistency and focus…I think a good week of practice will help the girls clear their minds and refocus, if nothing else it will improve our cardio.”
The host Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s basketball team finished second at their own 2011 BDO Canada tournament.
The WolfPack lost 69-60 to the University of Alberta Pandas in the final Sunday afternoon at the Tournament Capital Centre.
VSS grad Diane Schuetze led TRU with 17 points and six rebounds. Schuetze earlier had a career-high 25 points in a 73-64 win over the New Brunswick Varsity Reds.
“Diane really played well facing a lot of good defence,” said Pack coach Scott Reeves. “Our rookies got some valuable minutes and I thought contributed. The effort was there but the execution of our offence still needs some work.”
TRU opens the Cape Breton tournament in Nova Scotia today against the host Cape Breton Capers.
Meanwhile, the Heat men’s volleyball team fell in five sets Sunday afternoon in an exhibition match against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies (21-25, 28-26, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10).
Setter Preston Tucker (5th year, Vernon) played in just his second match, and although not at full strength after an off-season ankle injury, he led the Heat with 47 assists.
“He’s [Preston] getting more and more comfortable as the days go on,” said Poitras. “He still doesn’t have any pop in his left ankle…so his block touch isn’t very high and his serve isn’t as hard as it used to be.”
The Heat are 3-8 in the preseason which they finish tonight in Kamloops versus TRU.
In PacWest women’s soccer, the Heat got goals from Lindsey Briggs (2nd year, Delta) and Lana Finley (1st year, Kelowna) in a 2-0 win over the Langara Falcons of Vancouver.
Forward Kirsten Dodds (1st year, Vernon) made a spectacular run and battled against Langara’s defence to control the ball at the net, but was unsuccessful in the second half.
The Heat went to 6-1-2, while the Falcons dropped to 6-4.
In men’s soccer, midfielder Austin Jones (2nd year, Vernon) and forward Andrew Pinguelo (1st year, Vancouver) scored as the Heat stopped Quest Kermodes of Squamish.
