The UFV Cascades women’s basketball team tested themselves early for the 2016-17 season, welcoming the Wisconsin Badgers on Aug. 10 and the Florida Atlantic Owls on Aug. 12.
UFV played the Badgers hard on Wednesday, and had a 34-32 lead mid-way through the third quarter, but Wisconsin turned it on with about four minutes to go.
The Badgers went on a 9-0 run after falling behind and extended their lead in the fourth to win 64-50.
Reigning Canada West scoring champ Kayli Sartori paced the Cascades with 14 points to go with six rebounds and four steals, while sophomore forward Taylor Claggett notched a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Shayna Litman chipped in with 13 points.
“We talked about wanting to establish our competitiveness in our first game, and I thought the girls really competed hard,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said. “We battled a much bigger team, and we actually beat them on the boards (50-47), which was a really key stat for us.”
Friday’s game saw Florida Atlantic shoot the lights out from beyond the arc to post a 90-77 win.
The Owls, an NCAA Div. 1 program knocked down 15 of 34 attempts (44.1 per cent) from long distance.
Florida Atlantic nullified a phenomenal all-around performance from Sartori, who poured in a game-high 23 points to go with eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
“It was a great week, especially for our young kids to see some quality opponents who play different styles,” Tuchscherer said. “When we’re in Canada West play from week to week, one week you’ll play a big team and the next week it’s a team that can really shoot the ball and execute. It’s good for us to see that right now.”
For more on the team, visit ufvcascades.ca.
