Vancouver, BC – Maddy Gobeil's 21 points helped the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades women's basketball team complete a weekend sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds with a 73-65 victory on Saturday at UBC's War Memorial Gym.

Both teams struggled to get going in the first quarter, but efficient shooting from UFV gave them an 18-15 lead going into the first break, as they hit over 50% of their shots from the field.

The teams continued trading blows in the second, but Maddy Gobeil's 10 points in the quarter helped UFV hold a slim 39-38 lead at the half.

The Cascades held the Thunderbirds to just eight points in the third, thanks to a ball hawk defence that managed five steals in the frame, as they opened up their lead to nine points heading into the fourth.

UFV held a double-digit advantage for most of the final frame, but the Thunderbirds did not go quietly. 10 fourth quarter points from Azalya Forstbauer helped bring the Vancouver-based squad within six, but that was as close as they came.

Top performers
UFV's Maddy Gobeil was a force for the Cascades, leading her team in most major statistical categories with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals. Nikki Cabuco chipped in 18 points for UFV by knocking down a game-high four threes.

Sophia Bergman led UBC in scoring with a season-high 15 points, while Olivia Weekes tallied a double double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Quotable
UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer

"I thought it was a really good team effort tonight. We kind of know what we are going to get with Maddy [Gobeil], and Julia [Tuchscherer], but tonight we saw some other people stepping up. Nikki [Cabuco] was fantastic tonight, and I thought Google [Sidhu] was very good tonight as well."

"Moving on to next week we are really excited to play Saskatchewan and be tested by them. That's obviously one of the premiere programs in the country, and I think it's a great way for us to enter the playoffs being challenged that way and having to be on the top of our game to compete with them."

Where they sit
The win improves the Cascades record to 13-5 on the season, while the Thunderbirds fall to 10-8 this year.

UFV now returns home to finish off their regular season schedule with a Friday-Saturday set against the first place University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. PT on Friday, and 5 p.m. PT on Saturday.