After posting their 15th straight win Saturday at the expense of the visiting UNBC Timberwolves, you'd think maybe the University of Alberta Pandas women's basketball team might have at least clinched home court advantage for the first round of the Canada West playoffs.
Not so. Despite breezing to a 79-48 win over UNBC, the Pandas are still part of a three-team logjam atop the Prairie Division standings, tied with Regina and Saskatchewan with identical 16-2 records. That's an accomplishment the T-wolves can only dream about as their Pacific Division record fell to 4-14.
Pandas forward Andria Carlyon collected 18 points and eight rebounds and Saskia Van Ginhoven picked up 17 points. The lopsided score likely would have been much worse for the T-wolves if not for the play of veterans Mercedes Van Koughnett and Emily Kaehn, who put up 21 and 14 points respectively. Together, they combined for 15 points in the third quarter to make it a 13-point game heading into the final 10 minutes. But their offensive magic went missing in the fourth quarter. The T-wolves missed 10 shots from the field and were outscored 22-5.
The UNBC men suffered a similar fate, losing 96-70 to the No. 4-ranked Alberta Golden Bears, who won their fifth in a row to improve their first-place Prairie record to 16-2.
Jordan Baker fired a game-high 23 points, Joel Friesen had 18 points, and Czar Robotham shot 12 to spice the Alberta offence. Franck Olivier Kouagnia continued to be a strong offensive threat for UNBC, putting up 19 points, while Charles Barton hit for 15. Daniel Stark hauled in seven rebounds.
Alberta started with a 12-2 run and led 29-16 after one quarter.
Their seventh-straight loss dropped the T-wolves record to 4-14 with four games remaining.
UNBC plays host to the Fraser Valley Cascades this Friday and Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.
