By the time the UNBC Timberwolves hit their stride, it was too late.
The UNBC women's basketball team lost a Friday night road game 74-58 to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. Lethbridge led 25-12 after the first quarter and 41-19 at the half. The Pronghorns had dropped a pair of lopsided games to the University of Alberta Pandas the previous weekend and stepped onto the court Friday full of energy.
The T-wolves weren't able to match their early pace.
"We came out quite flat in the first half," said UNBC athletics director Jason Kerswill, who was filling in on the sidelines for head coach Loralyn Murdoch. "We tried to address that after the first quarter and at half-time. I'm actually quite proud of the girls for the way they came out in the second half but we can't wait for 20 minutes to get into our game plan."
In the opening half, the Timberwolves made just seven of their 33 shots from the field, for an efficiency rating of 21.2 per cent.
A sharper UNBC squad outscored Lethbridge 19-15 in the third quarter and 20-18 in the fourth. Forward Emily Kaehn led the T-wolves offensively with 25 points -- 21 of them in the second half. Guard/forward Mercedes Van Koughnett added 16 points for the visitors.
For the Pronghorns, guard Ali Cameron scored 22 points. Cameron was deadly from three-point land, especially in the first half. In the opening 20 minutes, she was 4-for-4 from behind the arc and she finished the game 6-for-8 on three-point attempts.
Erin Skippon added 19 points for Lethbridge.
With the result, the Timberwolves slipped to 3-4 in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association and the Pronghorns improved to 4-3.
Later in the evening, the UNBC and Lethbridge men's teams stepped onto the hardwood and the Pronghorns emerged with a 99-90 victory. Lethbridge led 35-30 after the first quarter, 54-49 at the half and 78-72 after three quarters.
Derek Waldner scored a game-high 26 points for Lethbridge and Logan Reiter contributed 20. Fifth-year guard Jose Araujo paced UNBC with 19 points, while guard/forward Sam Raphael hit for 15.
Both teams are now 4-3 on the season.
The UNBC clubs will be in Calgary today to take on the University of Calgary Dinos. The Calgary women have won all seven of their games to date - including an 82-72 victory against the Mount Royal University Cougars on Friday - and are ranked eighth in Canada. The Calgary men, meanwhile, sit at 3-4 after a 74-53 Friday triumph against the Cougars.
