The realities of life in Canada West are sinking in.
The UNBC Timberwolves women's basketball team, in its first season as a league member, lost its fourth consecutive game on Thursday night. On the floor at the Northern Sport Centre, the Timberwolves took on the University of Alberta Pandas and fell 87-45. After a good first quarter by the home side, the Pandas dictated the pace of play and scored almost at will as the game progressed. The contest tilted in their favour when they used a series of steals to spark a 12-0 scoring run in the second quarter.
"They're in the top 15 in the country and there's a reason," UNBC head coach Loralyn Murdoch said of the Pandas. "They're extremely deep. They cycled players in and just kept running and running, which, in the past, we have been able to do. Unfortunately we're not able to do that this year and they wore us down. They were much more physical than we were and they played with a lot more confidence than we did."
The T-wolves have a roster of 10 and, in Thursday's game, got only limited time out of their best player, Mercedes Van Koughnett. The fourth-year guard/forward is battling a case of pneumonia and managed just four points in 12 minutes of action.
The Pandas pushed their record to 5-4, while the Timberwolves dropped to 3-6. They have now been outscored 667-583 in their nine games.
UNBC was led offensively by forwards Emily Kaehn and Jennifer Bruce, both of whom scored 10 points. Forward Kendra Asleson paced the Pandas with 21. All but one member of the U of A squad got on the scoresheet. The Pandas generated 33 points off 30 UNBC turnovers and out-rebounded the T-wolves 39-28.
"They like to play seven or eight people a lot of their minutes so we thought that if we kept the pressure up and forced them into tough decisions that it would pay off eventually," said Pandas assistant coach Thomas Slifka. "We tried to use our size and our athleticism to wear them down and I think we did. But they did a great job. They hustled on rebounds, they worked hard and they didn't give up. You've got to give them credit."
The Timberwolves played a strong first quarter and were deserving of a 16-14 lead. In the first 10 minutes, they shot with 50 per cent accuracy from the field and got points from five different players. But, in the second quarter, the Pandas dominated. Ignited by those acts of thievery on defence, they ended up outscoring the home side 26-9 in the middle frame. That gave U of A a 40-25 advantage at the half.
"We had a really good groove in the beginning and they got a little physical on us and we weren't used to it, I guess," Kaehn said.
In Thursday night's men's game, the Timberwolves battled the Golden Bears, the seventh-ranked team in Canada. The game was still in progress at The Citizen's press deadline, but, after three quarters, the T-wolves led the Golden Bears 55-46. UNBC entered the contest with a 4-4 record, while U of A came in at 7-1.
The UNBC teams will be back on the NSC court on Saturday for clashes with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The women's game will start at 6 p.m. and the men's game will tip off at 8 p.m. Both Huskies squads are ranked ninth in the nation.
