The University of the Fraser Valley women's basketball team raced out to a 19-5 lead at the end of the first quarter on Friday in Kelowna, igniting a 73-48 blowout win over the UBC Okanagan Heat.

Taylor Claggett paced the Cascades with 18 points and nine rebounds, Abby Zawada shot 5-for-9 from beyond the arc on her way to 17 points, and Veronica Kobes posted career-highs for points (10) and rebounds (eight) as the UFV squad improved to 6-5.

Vanessa Botteselle scored 12 points and Jordan Korol registered eight points and 10 boards for the host Heat, who fell to 0-11.

The two teams wrap up their first-semester schedules with a Saturday rematch in Kelowna (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).

"Early in the first quarter, we were getting some pretty good shots but they weren't falling," Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said. "I just encouraged the girls to keep pushing the ball and moving the ball, and later in the quarter we got some buckets that kind of broke the game open.

"We slowed down a bit in the second quarter, but we regrouped at halftime, and I thought the girls had really good energy in the third and into the fourth. We got everybody into the game, and it was a good team effort."

The Cascades opened the game on an 8-0 run, but it took five and a half minutes for that run to materialize – the UFV defence was airtight, but the offence was slower to ignite. But behind the play of Claggett, who had eight points in the quarter, the Cascades found some traction and built a 19-5 edge at the end of the first.

The Heat outscored UFV 12-10 in the second, but the Cascades re-extended the lead in the third, and the result was never in doubt in the fourth.

Amanda Thompson (nine points) and Natalie Rathler (seven points) also chipped in offensively for the Cascades.

The career-best production from Kobes, the Cascades' 6'2" third-year centre, was a real highlight.

"Veronica was given an opportunity in the first quarter, and she kept a couple possessions alive for us," Tuchscherer noted. "She built on that for the rest of the night, and it was nice to see it pay off with some points tonight. She had a really good game."