Taylor Claggett and
Deanna Tuchscherer showed the vast potential of their combined chemistry on Friday evening, leading the University of the Fraser Valley women's basketball team to a 69-58 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
Senior Claggett and rookie Tuchscherer tied for game-high honours with 21 points apiece, and Tuchscherer added 10 rebounds for her first career double-double as the Cascades (3-2) snapped the Pronghorns' (5-2) five-game win streak.
The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv) at the EFAC.
As much as Claggett and Tuchscherer dominated the paint, the scary thing is that UFV head coach
Al Tuchscherer (Deanna's dad) believes his team is still just scratching the surface in terms of its offensive ability.
"Offensively I don't think we're even close," he said. "We had a nice run in the second quarter that was kind of the difference in the game. But beyond that, we had a few too many turnovers, and the ball didn't flow how we'd like it to flow tonight.
"But Taylor and Deanna are starting to develop a little bit of chemistry and an ability to play off of each other. It was good to see them both have solid nights tonight."
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The Cascades built a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, then pulled away late in the second, piecing together a 9-0 run highlighted by five points from
Amanda Thompson to go up 38-24.
They maintained that double-digit lead for nearly the entire second half, and a flurry of triples midway through the fourth quarter – one from
Maddy Gobeil, two from
Nikki Cabuco – sealed the result.
Thompson finished with eight points while serving as the primary defender on Lethbridge standout Kacie Bosch, and
Jessica Parker notched a team-high six assists.
Bosch scored a team-best 14 points from the Pronghorns, and Jessica Haenni scored 10.
Defensively, Coach Tuchscherer said, the Cascades are "starting to get it."
"We're making it a little bit difficult for teams to get quality shots, so that was encouraging tonight," he said. "Their starting five is a real handful, and Kacie Bosch is as good as anybody in the conference. I thought as a team we really took our defensive responsibilities to a new level tonight, and I thought Amanda really led us in that area. It was nice to see her flourish in that role."
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