The Trinity Western Spartans (TWU) of Langley swept the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat in women’s basketball on opening weekend.
A balanced scoring attack and strong rebounding boosted the Spartans to a 79-57 win Saturday after winning the series opener 81-62.
A hot-shooting Spartans out-rebounded and outshot UBCO in the second quarter to go up 10 at the half, a lead they would not relinquish.
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Three Heat players hit double digits on Saturday as second-year forward Brianna Falk (Vernon Panthers grad) came off the bench to lead the team with 13 points, fourth-year forward Jordan Korol (Vernon) added a dozen points, while Ana Evans earned 11.
Fourth-year guard Sarah Buckingham led the Spartans with 22 points, while fifth-year forward Tessa Ratzlaff and rookie forward Nicole Franson each had double-doubles. Ratzlaff finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Franson rang up 17 points and 11 rebounds.
With 7:30 remaining in the opening half, the Heat’s Vanessa Botteselle hit a three-point basket to give UBCO a 24-21 lead. It was the last time the Heat would lead in the game. From there the Spartans defence and offence got into sync as TWU finished the half with a 19-6 run.
A four-minute run in the second quarter sparked Trinity Western in Friday’s season opener.
The visiting Heat led 25-21 after the first quarter, but 17 straight points from the Spartans near the end of the first half blew the game open.
Korol finished with a double-double for UBCO with 16 points and 10 boards to lead all Heat players in both categories. Falk sank five points, while freshman post Mackenzie Horst (Vernon) came off the bench to score four points.
UBCO finished the night with just seven turnovers to TWU’s 13. The Spartan shot 52.5 per cent from the field while holding UBCO to 31.4 per cent. The Spartans were 7-for-15 from three-point range, while UBCO was just 5-for-24.
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