Edmonton, AB – Google Sidhu scored 14 points off the bench to help lead the UFV Cascades on Saturday afternoon, as they finished their opening weekend with a second victory over the MacEwan Griffins.
The teams battled back and forth throughout the game, but in a similar scene to Friday night, the Cascades pulled away late to secure the victory 81-64.
UFV assistant coach
Dan Nayebzadeh applauded the efforts of players off the bench after the game.
"The difference between tonight and last night was bench production. Different people stepped up tonight I thought. Julia Tuchscherer was unbelievable in the second half, and Google was our unsung hero tonight."
The Cascades took a 40-33 lead into the half, punctuated by Sidhu who drained a three, before making a steal after the inbound and laying it in for two more.
Nayebzadeh had a ton of praise for the second-year guard on the day.
"She brings a ton of feistiness and tenaciousness to the court. Usually that's on defence, but tonight she didn't just give us defence, she gave us defence that translated to really important offence."
The teams played even in the third, allowing UFV to take a 56-50 lead into the fourth. The Cascades took over from there outscoring the Griffins 25-14 in the fourth quarter, led by
Maddy Gobeil and Sidhu with six points each in the frame, to seal the factory 81-64.
"It's nice to know we have another gear when we get into crunch time in the fourth quarter," noted Nayebzadeh. "I think it's great to be able to tell the team it's go time, and they can turn it on"
Tuchscherer had a team-high 16 points for the Cascades, while Gobeil had 15 and Sidhu added 14.
Mackenzie Farmer paced the Griffins with a game-high 19 points, and Noelle Kilbreath had 14. Shannon Majeau posted a double-double for MacEwan with 10 points and 10 rebounds on the day.
The Cascades are back in action for their home openers next weekend, as they take on the Manitoba Bisons at 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Griffins head to Calgary next week to take on the Mount Royal Cougars. All games are also available to watch live on canadawest.tv.
