The UFV Cascades women’s basketball team ended off their November schedule on a high note, with a two-game home sweep of the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday and Saturday.
Friday’s game saw the team fall behind 32-12 late in the second quarter, only to battle back for the 59-55 win.
UFV chipped away at the deficit for much of the game, and Sydney Williams swished a huge three-pointer with 34 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 55. The Cascades came up huge defensively in the dying seconds and went 4-for-6 from the free throw line to provide the final margin of victory.
Head coach Al Tuchscherer said a frustrating start almost cost his team the game, but his star players pulled through.
“Everything was wrong early,” he said. ” Giving up 27 points in the first quarter is not what we want to do at all. I think they really came out and caught us sleeping a little bit, and knocked down a lot of shots. I looked over at (Cascades assistant coach) Tara (Burton), and we were probably 30 seconds away from pulling the starters and thinking about tomorrow night. But she told us to kind of stick in there, and we stuck in. The girls fought hard in the second half.”
UFV’s Kayli Sartori led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Taylor Claggett added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Cascades opened Saturday’s game on a 19-2 run, and cruised to the 75-63 win. The 75 points is the most the club has put up on the scoreboard this season.
Sartori again did it all for the Cascades, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and five steals. Claggett recorded another double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Tuchscherer said the final quarter sealed the win.
“In the fourth quarter, our defence really created some difficult shots for them. They turned the ball over a few times, and we had some players make some big shots,” he said.
The pair of wins improves the Cascades’ record to four wins and two losses. They sit tied for fifth in the Canada West.
It was the opposite story for the Cascades men’s basketball team, as they were swept by UNBC with losses on Friday and Saturday.
UFV was up 60-56 with 2:45 left on Friday, but UNBC closed the game with a 10-3 run to earn the 66-63 win.
Men’s team head coach Adam Friesen said offensive struggles continue to haunt his team.
“Offensively, we’ve definitely been a team that’s had some tough moments, and this was one of those games,” he said. “Neither team was able to get anything going, and we just didn’t have the energy needed to pull this one out. We just didn’t make the effort plays to finish off the game. They hit big shots and they wanted it more down the stretch.”
Vijay Dhillon scored a team-high 13 points in the loss, with Anthony Gilchrist grabbing 10 rebounds. UFV’s free throw shooting was off, as the club made just 11 of 21 from the charity stripe.
Saturday’s game saw the Timberwolves build up a 58-50 lead after three quarters, but the Cascades fought to within one point with just over five minutes left. But the team’s offence dried up late in the game and UNBC picked up the 76-70 win.
Manny Dulay led UFV with 22 points, while Denver Sparks-Guest picked up an impressive 10 rebounds and seven points off the bench.
The men’s record is now two wins and four losses, and they are ranked 12th in the Canada West.
Both the men’s and women’s teams head to Brandon to take on the Bobcats on Friday and Saturday to close off the 2016 calendar for the clubs.
