One night after they pushed the top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans until the final minute, the UNBC Timberwolves finished the job Saturday in Langley.
Sveta Boykova had 29 points and 17 rebounds and the T-wolves topped TWU 74-69. The Russian freshman scored her team’s first nine points of the game as they swarmed the Spartans defensively to jump out to a 13-4 lead.
Boykova continued to fire away, stretching out the TWU defense with her range, finally going to the bench just past the five-minute mark with 12 points, including three treys.
“It was massive,” said UNBC guard Sarah Kuklisin. “She hit three threes in a row, and it was the energy to get us going. Sometimes we start a little slow. That pushed the momentum for the rest of the game. It is rare to have a post who can play outside and inside. It was huge for us to get Sveta the ball out there. A huge advantage.”
The Spartans’ ramped-up defensive energy gave UNBC trouble early in the second quarter and Jayden Gill and Kianna Wiens gave the TWolves fits with their pressure. The T-wolves struggled to keep possession, turning the ball over repeatedly, while Canada West all-star Nicole Fransson went on a parade to the free-throw line for eight points from the charity stripe in the quarter, giving the Spartans a 40-38 edge at halftime.
Boykova was the story of the first half for UNBC with 16 points and seven boards, while her post counterpart Fransson had 16 and five boards. A night after committing 26 turnovers, Sergey Shchepotkin’s team again struggled to take care of the ball with 13 turnovers in the first half, which led to 16 TWU points.
In the second half, Cheryl Jean-Paul’s team came out aggressively, but the Timberwolves did well to match their intensity in a loud and boisterous Langley Events Centre. Neither team had much success offensively and after 30 minutes the Spartans led 52-51.
“They are so consistent,” said Kuklisin. ‘Most teams fluctuate. Good and bad. But Trinity has such a steady offense and they are so disciplined on both sides of the ball.”
In the fourth quarter, a Kuklisin three gave UNBC the lead at the five-minute mark, but Jolene Vlieg answered with a triple that gave the advantage back to the Spartans. With the game knotted at 63-63 at the 2:25 mark, the T-wolves showed their character, with the freshman Kuklisin making another trey to give the visitors the lead. Another Vlieg three-pointer cut the UNBC lead back to four points in the final minute, but the Timberwolves were able to use Shakirova and Boykova free-throws to hold off the top-seeded team in the division.
“I enjoy those moments,” said Kuklisin. “There is so much adrenaline. Those threes felt so good and I was so glad I was able to help the team out. I trust all our veterans to be taking those shots, but I try to take what the defense gives me. If I have a wide open three, I have to trust my abilities.”
Boykova finished with 29 points and 17 rebounds, while Shakirova added 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Kuklisin came off the bench and scored 11 points. Fransson paced the Spartans with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Vlieg had 16 points and eight boards.
The Timberwolves did a much better job in the second half with ball security, turning it over just four times in the final 20 minutes.
UNBC now improves to 6-7, while the Spartans fall to 13-3 in the U SPORTS Canada West women's basketball standings
“This is massive - we needed something to keep us going,” said Kuklisin. “We have five more games against good teams. Winning this game reassures us we can beat any team. Every team is beatable, and this gives us the confidence we needed.”
