With star point guard
Maddy Gobeil sidelined due to injury, the University of the Fraser Valley women's basketball team put together a gritty, clutch performance on the road to earn a 71-64 double-overtime win over the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday.
Coming off
a heartbreaking 60-59 loss in Vancouver on Friday, and having learned in the morning that sophomore standout Gobeil – the Cascades' leading scorer through three games this season – would be unavailable for the rematch, the UFV squad dug deep, showcasing its high-end talent and depth in a marathon victory.
Deanna Tuchscherer was dominant down the stretch for the Cascades, finishing with a game-high 30 points and 10 rebounds, and
Nikki Cabuco racked up a season-high 22 points highlighted by 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
The UFV squad also got a revelatory performance from rookie guard
Google Sidhu, who stepped up and soaked up many of Gobeil's minutes. She'd seen action in just one of the Cascades' first three games, totalling just five minutes of court time, but played 42 minutes on Saturday, supplying tough defence and chipping in with five points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The Cascades, who emerge from a wild weekend leading the West Division at 3-1, return to their home court next week to face the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a Friday-Saturday series.
Hailey Counsell scored a team-best 22 points, and Emily Martindale (13) and Kate Johnson (12) also scored in double figures for the T-Birds, who fell to 1-3 on the season.
"I'm proud of how they handled the adversity, and the real tough loss the night before," Cascades head coach
Al Tuchscherer said, reflecting on the resilience his squad showed over the weekend in Vancouver.
"Obviously losing Maddy, she's a big part of our team, and I wasn't sure how things were going to go, but I thought they really answered the bell. They started the game strong, and then it just turned into a battle of wills, a gritty sort of mess. And I thought Deanna brought it home."
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Cabuco sparked the Cascades in the first half, draining four triples in the early going as the visitors led 16-14 after one quarter and expanded the margin to 34-23 at the break.
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The T-Birds quieted the UFV offence in the third quarter, out-scoring the Cascades 13-6 in the frame, but
Deanna Tuchscherer took over down the stretch. With UBC cutting the deficit to 45-44 with three minutes left in regulation, Tuchscherer hit a three-pointer and went 3-of-4 from the foul line to give UFV a 51-46 cushion.
UBC battled back, though – Martindale hit a driving layup and Counsell drained a triple to knot the score 51-51 and set the stage for OT.
Tuchscherer continued to cruise in the first extra session, pouring in eight of the Cascades' nine points in the frame. UFV was again in control, up 59-53, only to watch UBC rally to tie it 60-60 on a pair of Counsell free throws to force a second overtime.
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The Cascades finally dispatched the pesky T-Birds in the second OT. Tuchscherer scored six points, Sidhu contributed a huge three-pointer, and UBC was out of comebacks.
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It was a true superstar performance down the stretch for
Deanna Tuchscherer – over the last 13 minutes of the game (three minutes of regulation plus two five-minute OT periods), she poured in 20 points to carry the Cascades to victory.
"I was really proud of Deanna tonight,"
Al Tuchscherer said. "By her standards, she's been struggling a little bit for the better part of the season. She just doesn't have a lot of flow in her game, but I thought she just really put us on her back late in the game and in the overtimes. It was great to see her demanding the ball, wanting the ball in those key situations.
"We kind of ran Nikki dry – she had nothing left towards the end of the game, so we moved Deanna over (to the point) and she helped us out a lot as well.
"And Google was instrumental, for sure. For her to come in and play the minutes she played tonight and be as effective as she was, it was a pretty special performance. It says a lot about her readiness. She's a competitor."
Alexis Worrell stuffed the stat sheet for UFV, posting six points, eight rebounds and five assists, and
Julia Tuchscherer had eight points and seven boards.
UFV lost the rebounding battle by 10 (57-47), but were much more efficient at the offensive end in a defensive-minded battle, shooting 36.4 per cent from the field as a team while limiting the T-Birds to just 26.9 per cent.
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