WBB: Rathler, Tuchscherer, propel Cascades to opening night victory over the Griffins
Edmonton, AB -
Natalie Rathler's double-double and
Deanna Tuchscherer's game-high 23 points helped the UFV Cascades start their 2022/ 2023 Canada West campaign off with a 75-62 victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night.
Despite UFV leading the game almost wire-to-wire, the Griffins kept the Cascades close throughout. UFV, who was voted the number two team in Canada West in the preseason coaches' poll, led 20-17 after the first and 36-32 at the half, before opening it up in the third and fourth quarters.
"We just couldn't get ourselves going in the first half" noted UFV assistant coach
Dan Nayebzadeh. "The second half was a bit better, we didn't foul as much, and we adjusted".
UFV led by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but the Griffins cut that lead to just four in the final frame. However, the Cascades would prove to be too much down the stretch, as
Maddy Gobeil scored 10 points in the final 3:07 to seal the victory.
"The last three minutes we really took it to them I thought. [Gurveer Sidhu] was unbelievable in the last three minutes defensively. Julia had a couple of buckets, Deanna went to work, and Nat was rebounding."
"We stayed together, and we didn't panic."
Deanna Tuchscherer led the Cascades in scoring with 23 points on the night, while Rathler had 16 points to go with her 13 rebounds, and Gobeil finished with 15 points.
"Nat was a beast tonight. She rebounded hard, defended the best player on their team all night long, and she scored for us." Naayebzadeh applauded postgame.
Noelle Kilbreath paced the Griffins with 14 points, while Mackenzie Farmer added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the game.
The result moves the Cascades to 1-0 on the season, while the Griffins fall to 0-1. The two teams face off once again on Saturday (1 p.m. (PT)., Canadawest.tv).
