The UNBC Timberwolves are doing what it takes to make team history.
The women's basketball team moved one step closer to locking up its first Canada West Conference playoff spot Friday night in Winnipeg, where they beat the Manitoba Bisons 85-75.
Maria Mongomo collected a game-high 23 points to pave the way for the T-wolves (6-9), who rolled to their third-straight victory and first on the road this season.
UNBC led 37-33 at halftime and 56-53 after 30 minutes, outscoring the Bisons 29-22 in the final quarter.
Mongomo shot 8-for-12 from the field and was buried all six of her foul shot attempts. T-wolves forward Vasiliki Louka contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds and Hannah Pudlas hit for 12 points and five rebounds. The T-wolves shot 40.8 per cent from the field and 92.6 per cent (25-for-27) from the free throw line.
Emma Thompson was the top shooter for Manitoba with 19 points and went 3-for-7 from three-point range. Nicole Konieczny totaled 15 points and nine rebounds, while Keziah Brothers also had 15 points for the last-place Bisons.
UNBC remains 11th in the U Sports Canada West standings with five games left, including the rematch with the Bisons (1-14) in Winnipeg today (3 p.m. PT).
In the men's game that followed, the T-wolves lost a heartbreaker, 86-85 to the Bisons.
Manitoba trailed for most of the fourth quarter but found a way to make it close in the dying seconds. The T-wolves were clinging to an 85-84 lead when Ilarion Bonhomme got fouled with 26 seconds left and he hit both of his free throws. UNBC had a chance to tie it, but with 10 seconds left, Keith Omoerah forced a turnover and the Bisons killed the clock.
Manitoba improved its seventh-place record to 9-6. That extended the T-wolves' losing streak to seven games, dropping their 16th-place record to 4-11.
Overshadowed in the loss was a 28-point effort from UNBC guard Marcus MacKay, who hit eight of his 10 three-point attempts and was 9-for-15 from the field. He also had four rebounds and two assists. Austin Chandler (15 points) and Rhys Elliott (12 points) also reached double figures.
AJ Basi, with 23 points, and Justus Alleyn, with 21, stoked the Manitoba offence. Omoerah finished with 16.
The T-wolves were at their best in the third quarter, outscoring the Bisons 31-20, but couldn't sustain it. They'll try to end their slide in the rematch (5 p.m. PT start).
