Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades overcame a slow start offensively with some strong defensive play to start 2025 strong and come away with a 50-41 victory over the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday night at the UFV Athletic Centre.

Esther Allison picked up a game-high five blocks for the Cascades, while Maddy Gobeil tallied game-highs in points with 16 and rebounds with 15 to help lead the team to the win. 

The win moves UFV to 8-3 on the season, while UNBC drops to 3-6 in Canada West play.

How it happened:
Defence dominated the early stages, as neither team was able to get a shot to fall, until UNBC broke the deadlock almost halfway through the opening frame. Madison Storme would get the Cascades first field goal with 1:47 remaining in the quarter to tie the game up at seven. 

UFV shot just 1-12 in the first quarter, but despite the offensive struggle early on the team kept it close and six second quarter points from Gobeil would help the team open up a five-point lead at the break. 

After the teams traded points throughout the third, an Amrit Manak triple early in the fourth made it just a one-point game. A 9-0 run from UFV would see them pull away, and five-straight points from Nikki Cabuco would stretch the lead to 15 with three minutes to go as the Cascades went on to close it out 50-41.

Notable:
The Cascades won the battle on the glass, collecting 52 rebounds compared to just 31 from UNBC. 

Esther Allison's five blocks in the game was just two shy of the program record held by Sarah Wierks.

UFV went 17-20 from the charity stripe, while UNBC was held to just 1-4 on the night.

The Cascades held UNBC to just 10 points in each of the four quarters.

Quotable:
UFV forward Madison Storme

"I know our team has some stuff we want to work on to just keep building, but it's a pretty good first game back defensively."

"Looking ahead to TRU, I think we will go home tonight and think about our offense a lot and how we can like move the ball better and be less sticky and flow better for sure. Think about our finishing tomorrow, and get the job done."

Up next:
The Cascades return to action on Saturday afternoon, as they take on the TRU WolfPack at 3pm at the UFV Athletic Centre. The game can also be seen live on Canada West TV.

Cascades home games offer free admission for UFV students with their student card. You can keep up with all the action at gocascades.ca, or by following the UFV Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades