Four games, four wins to start the season.
For the UNBC Timberwolves women’s basketball team this is uncharted territory.
They kept their perfect record intact Saturday night with a 90-75 win over the Winnipeg Wesmen, sweeping the U Sports Canada West conference doubleheader at the Northern Sport Centre.
There was no joy on the court later Saturday for the UNBC men. The Timberwolves fell 96-81 to the Wesmen – their first loss of the season.
Tasked with the added motivation of trying to score back-to-back wins against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs in the first round last season, the UNBC women did not falter.
The T-wolves put the Wesmen permanently in their rearview mirror to start the third quarter and it was the usual suspects – Vasiliki Louka, Madison Landry and Maria Mongomo – who provided that degree of separation.
They each found the net while putting together a 6-0 run which gave the T-wolves a 52-40 lead that was never threatened the rest of the way.
“It was a tough weekend for us but we got both wins, which is important,” said Louka, a fifth-year forward from Athens, Greece, who had 26 points and 14 rebounds. “It gives us confidence to keep going and move as high as we can. Our goal is to be one of the best teams.
“We lost to Winnipeg last year in the playoffs, so we wanted to prove we were a good team and we could beat them and we played for last season.”
They certainly looked like a confident crew, especially in the late stages Saturday. Their passes were crisp and accurate, they shot nearly 50 per cent from the field, and only one player (Landry) got into foul trouble.
Mongomo, now in her fourth season, came up with her best offensive output of the season, contributing a team-high 31 points. She also had 12 rebounds and two steals.
Landry was also a standout, finishing with 12 points and seven assists.
The UNBC guards did their jobs distributing the ball. Emily Holmes picked up a season-high seven assists, Abby Gibb had five helpers and Alina Shakirova had four assists and nine points, going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Faith Hezekiah played an outstanding game despite an upset stomach which kept her close to a bucket near the Wesmen bench all game. She shot a game-high 33 points and also picked up 12 rebounds and three steals before fouling out late in the game. Lana Wenke, with 12 points, and Jessica Dyck, with 10, also reached double figures for Winnipeg.
“Our coach (Sergey Shchepotkin) talked to us at halftime and said we have to play better defence and focus on Number 9 (Hezekiah) because she had 21 points in the first half,” said Louka. “I think we did a pretty good job on her.
“This year we have more players who can contribute and it’s good, it gives confidence to all of the players that we are a good team. It’s not just two or three players who can score.”
The Wesmen women had too many good looks at the net that were wasted by shots they went off-target. Winnipeg made it to the Canada West Final Four last season, but it’s a much younger team now that’s taking its lumps, starting the season with four straight losses. Head coach Tanya McKay says this year’s edition of the T-wolves has great potential to make a dent in the Canada West playoffs.
“They’re a very veteran team, they have a lot of experience, they’ve been through the grind and know what it takes to win,” said McKay. “When we pulled close they knew how to take it up a notch and hit some key shots down the stretch. They controlled the boards and they definitely outplayed us.
“They have a team that’s been together a few years and we competed in longer stretches than we did (in Friday’s 75-68 loss). UNBC’s got a very good team and if they play smart down the stretch they’re going to do very well in the playoffs. They’ve got all the parts.”
In the men’s game, the T-wolves fell behind 23-14 after one quarter, then rode Jovan Leamy’s 13-point second quarter to get back in the game and take a 42-34 lead into the intermission.
The second half was a killer for UNBC. The Wesmen went on a 15-4 run to start the third quarter and led 68-65 heading into the fourth quarter. They continued to pile up points in the final quarter, doubling the T-wolves 28-16 to even their season record to 2-2.
Narcisse Ambanza shot a game-high 27 points, Don Dayrit had 22 points and Sean Tarver finished with 18 for coach Mike Raimbault’s Wesmen. For UNBC, Vaggelis Loukas collected 18 points and 13 rebounds and James Agyeman finished with 11 points and six assists.
“They ran it down our throats and got us in foul trouble,” said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan. “Our confidence started to go, theirs started to build, and we didn’t answer the bell.”
Leamy fouled out with 3:48 left on the clock and Loukas had to take a seat on the bench when he drew his fifth foul with 2:35 remaining.
Both UNBC teams are heading into a bye weekend. They’ll get back it Nov. 16 at the NSC when they host Trinity Western.
