Two months between games was not a recipe for success for the UNBC Timberwolves women’s basketball team.
The rust set in during that extended break and it showed on the court Saturday in Kelowna, where the T-wolves lost 77-66 to the UBC-Okanagan Heat.
Turnovers, not the tasty apple or cherry kind, but the type that hurts the bottom line for teams in basketball games, proved extremely costly to the T-wolves. They coughed up the ball 23 times, which led directly to 28 points for the Heat.
The T-wolves’ radar needs some fine-tuning. UNBC took just 59 shots from the field and sank just 21 of them, a rate of just 28.6 per cent. The Heat had much more success getting free for looks at the net with 86 attempts and they sank 33 of them for success rate of a 38.5 per cent.
Surprise Munie led the Heat with 17 points and had 11 rebounds. Rachel Hare contributed 11 points and Kelsey Falk collected 11 points and 11 rebounds.
For UNBC, Alina Shakirova, the Canada West scoring leader, was held to just 15 points, well below her 21.2-point average. Sveta Bokova, averaging a league-high 13 rebounds, finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. The T-wolves welcomed back forward Emma vanBruinessen in her first game of the season. The native of Leduc, Alta., who joined the T-wolves two seasons ago, hit for 10 points and 13 rebounds Saturday in her return to Canada West action.
The teams were tied 14-14 when UNBC took off on an eight-point run to finish the first quarter leading 22-14. That lead slipped away in the second quarter when they were outscored 28-10, and UBC-O went into intermission leading 42-32. The Heat still held a nine-point cushion after 30 minutes, leading 60-51.
The T-wolves (4-5) have now lost four straight, a streak that dates back to Nov. 27. They last won a game Nov. 26 when they beat UBC 81-77. UBC-O improved to 5-6.
The Heat-T-wolves game was a last-minute change to the Canada West schedule, designed to free up a weekend for the UNBC women to find time to make up two postponed home games originally scheduled for this weekend. Games Friday against Victoria and Sunday afternoon against UBC were postponed due to the fact each of those teams have too many players in isolation due to COVID exposures.
The T-wolves will be back in Kelowna next Friday and Saturday to play the Heat again.
Although Friday’s UNBC-Victoria men’s basketball game was postponed, the UBC Thunderbirds will be on the court at the Northern Sport Centre Sunday at 3 p.m. to take on the T-wolves.
