Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades women's basketball team got off to a blistering start as they took down the UBC Okanagan Heat 76-49 to move to 4-0 so far this season. The Heat drop to 2-3 with the result.

As it happened: 
After allowing the first bucket of the game, the Cascades scored the next 19 points to take a commanding lead early. Bolstered by 7 first quarter points, and six rebounds from Maddy Gobeil, the U SPORTS No. 9 ranked Cascades held a 25-11 lead at the break.

The Heat cut the lead to just eight in the second, but back-to-back triples from Bernie Leda and Maddy Gobeil swung the momentum back for UFV. The Cascades led by as many as 21 before taking a sixteen-point lead into the half.

The Cascades kept the pressure on, extending the lead to 27 at the end of the third, as they cruised to the victory.

Through the five game win streak the Cascades have averaged 85 points per game, with an average margin of victory of 29.6 points.

Top performers: 
Maddy Gobeil posted a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Cascades, while Julia Tuchscherer added 17 points and six boards. Second-year guard Bernie Leda notched 16 points and a team-high four assists in the game.

Jaeli Ibbetson picked up a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, while Aiko Williams added 10 points.

Quotable:
Cascades guard Bernie Leda

"We've been emphasizing bringing out energy and having that good start. I think a lot of it is in our pregame prep and our warmup. We worked a lot on our fitness over the summer, so pushing that ball and getting those easy transition buckets is something that we're really aiming to do."

"My team is always on me to shoot the ball. A lot of the confidence comes from my team and them building me up to shoot, and throughout practice and the summer they've always put that trust in me."

Up next:
The Cascades get set to host the UBC Okanagan Heat in the rematch on Saturday at the UFV Athletic Centre. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and UFV Students attend for free with a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased online at gocascades.ca/tickets, and the game can also be seen live on canadawest.tv.