The University of the Fraser Valley women's basketball team tossed wrench after wrench into the gears of the Trinity Western Spartans' offence on Saturday, prevailing 58-39 in a smothering defensive performance.
The Spartans struggled to get anything going offensively on this night – through three quarters, they'd managed just four field goals on 10 per cent shooting from the field (4-for-40). While they perked up somewhat in the fourth, getting five shots to drop, it was too little, too late as the Cascades won the rubber match of the season series between the two local rivals.
TWU (10-2) still maintains first place in the West Division by a half-game, but the Cascades (9-2) are tied in the loss column with a game in hand, and now own the head-to-head tiebreaker.Â
"We challenged our players to re-establish our identity tonight," said Cascades head coach
Al Tuchscherer, whose team had been much more permissive defensively inÂ
a 68-52 loss to the Spartans on Friday.Â
"They responded, for sure, at the defensive end of the floor. They were solid in a lot of ways – much more active defensively, their communication was much better, and we rebounded the ball better. A lot of really positive things defensively.
"Our defence needs to be our anchor – it needs to be there every night. It shouldn't be something we're talking about anymore. It wasn't there last night, but it was tonight. Consistency is the aim."
Â
It was evident from the outset that this game would be a rock fight – the Cascades' lead, six minutes into the first quarter, was 4-2.
Alexis Worrell got UFV's offence unstuck with a layup, and a
Madison Draayers trey and a
Natalie Rathler bucket in the paint made it 11-2 after one.
The Cascades continued to lock it down in the second quarter, ending the frame on a 13-3 run to make it 28-12 at the half.
Four straight points from
Maddy Gobeil in the third quarter pushed UFV's lead past the 20-point threshold (35-13), and they maintained that margin deep into the fourth. TWU's Kailey Reimer scored five straight points to help the Spartans get the deficit down to 13, but the Cascades pulled away again in the dying minutes.
Â
Gobeil scored 17 points to lead all scorers, Draayers (3-for-5 from three) and
Julia Tuchscherer posted 11 points apiece, and
Deanna Tuchscherer's 11 rebounds were a game-high.
Abbotsford product Jayden Gill (16 points) was the lone Spartan to score in double figures as TWU finished at 17.0 per cent from the field (9-for-53) and mustered just six points in the paint (3-for-26).
"I can't say I'm particularly happy with our overall play this weekend – I think we were fortunate to get the split in a lot of ways," Coach Tuchscherer said. "It's funny how, from one week to the next, your play can change. Offensively we struggled for the better part of 80 minutes this weekend, and we need to be better. We've got a stretch of games here against some solid teams, and then the playoffs, and we've got to be better offensively than we have been."
The Cascades basketball teams are back in action next weekend on the road, facing the UNBC Timberwolves in a Friday-Saturday set.
Â
