Vancouver, BC – Julia Tuchscherer had five blocks on Friday to set a new program record, but the UFV Cascades still fell 69-38 to the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver. The battle between the top two teams in the  pacific division saw UFV drop to 9-4, while UBC improved to 11-1 on the year.

How it happened:
The start of the game was a slugfest, with both teams trying to work the ball inside and both teams providing very strong interior defence. The two sides combined for just nine points and seven turnovers in the first five minutes, before the Cascades went up 9-6 off a tough finish through contact from Maddy Gobeil.
 
Daly answered with a triple on the other end a minute later, followed soon after by a big block from Jessica Clarke that got the T-Birds bench fired up. But the home team were unable to get their offence going, as they ended the first down 12-9 in their lowest-scoring opening quarter of the season
 
Daly opened the second with another three, but Allison responded with one right back on the other end. The Thunderbirds finally got some momentum going after that, as they went on an 8-0 run with all the points scored off of UFV turnovers.
 
The lead went back and forth in the final few minutes of the half, with Sara Toneguzzi draining a three with less than 10 seconds on the clock to put UBC up 29-28 at the break. The T-Birds ended the opening half with more field goals made from beyond the arc (six) than inside of it (four).
 
The second half is where the Thunderbirds shone. They continued to up their physicality in the third, holding the Cascades scoreless for over five minutes to begin the quarter. 
 
UBC kept the heat on for the rest of the frame, and outscored the Cascades 20-6 overall in the third to take a commanding lead. They forced the visitors into 12 turnovers in the quarter, and held them to just two made field goals.
 
Weekes continued her strong play to begin the fourth, scoring the first six T-Birds points of the final frame, as they cruised to the win.

Notable:
Esther Allison nearly double-doubled for the Cascades with 11 points and nine rebounds. Julia Tuchscherer was a defensive force with five blocks to go with seven points and seven boards.

Tuchscherer's five blocks put her to 100 in her Canada West career, as she passed Sarah Wierks for the most in Cascades women's basketball program history.

Up next:
The Cascades and Thunderbirds are set to play the rematch on Saturday at 4pm in Vancouver. All Cascades regular season games 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

- With files from UBC Athletics -