A strong second and third quarter from the TRU WolfPack would be enough on Saturday afternoon as the Heat were taken down by a 87-61 on the road.
After trailing by just two points after the opening 10 minutes (17-15), the ‘Pack blew the game open in the middle of the game by outscoring the Heat 52-26 in the second and third quarters.
While UBCO shot over 40 per cent from the field in the conest, it would be turnovers that proved costly as they commited 25 giveaways compared to just 13 for the home team.
Forward Ana Evans led the Heat attack with 11 points on the night while Claire Feasby also finished in double-figures with 10.
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Thompson Rivers improves their record to 3-5 as we near the Christmas break while the Heat drop to 0-10 and are sitll searching for that win.
Six players were in double figures for the WolfPack led by Michelle Bos with 19 points. Leilani Carney had 14 points With Megan Rouault and Lauren Walkley adding 12 , Kanesha Reeves with 11 and Jordon Haggerty adding 10.
The Heat started off hot to begin the game ringing up a 6-0 lead before the WolfPack took their first lead at 13-12 thanks to a three pointer from Megan Rouault. TRU held a two point lead (17-15) after the first quarter led by Emily Vilac’s 5 points.
In the second quarter, The WolfPack stretched their lead to 12. Rookie Lauren Walkley came off the bench to pace TRU with seven points in the period. TRU was up 39-25 at the break and in the first two quarters, the TRU bench outscored the Heat bench 12-7.
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TRU started to roll in the third quarter as they outgunned UBCO 30-16. Carney poured in 11 points in that period while Reeves added six.
In the fourth quarter it was more of the same, with both benches getting all their reserves in. Rouault’s five points helped her earn the “TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack player of the game” honor. The Heat did outscore the Pack 20-18 in the final stanza.
This was the latest chapter in the “President’s Cup” series between the two schools. It is a competition involving UBCO and TRU squads in Canada West basketball, volleyball, soccer and cross country. On the Women’s side, Thompson Rivers leads with three wins, a loss and a draw.
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“We were a little bit better in the second half but pretty disappointed with this afternoons game overall. I thought we got off to a better start but things didn’t go our way down the stretch of the first quarter. We thought about it too much. I have to do a better job of getting them prepared out of half time,” said Bobby Mitchel, UBC Okanagan Heat coach.
“We sustained a good effort for 36 minutes. The first four minutes we were a little rusty. Really happy with our performance across the board. One of our emphasis at half time was the first five minutes of the third and I thought the girls put the effort in to close it out right there,” said TRU Assistant Coach Chuck Ferguson
The WolfPack (3-5) and Heat (0-10) will wind up their pre-Christmas portion of their Canada West season at home next weekend.
UBCO will entertain the University of Fraser Valley Cascades (4-5) at the “Furnace” in Kelowna, BC the same dates.TRU will play host to the University of Alberta Pandas (6-2) on November 30th and December 1st. All Heat games are webcast on a pay per view basis on Canada West TV.
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