Unlike their male counterparts the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves women's basketball team used their whole bench in Saturday's easy 90-59 win over the Langara College Falcons.
Loralyn Murdoch, head coach of the T-wolves, started rotating her lineup in the first quarter during the PACWEST game at the Northern Sport Centre as all 12 players contributed in helping UNBC improve to 8-0 this season.
But having played six home games and only two on the road the T-wolves will need to finish strong in enemy territory if they want to maintain their hold on first place. So far this season UNBC has out scored its opponents 669 to 422 and hasn't had too many games where they needed to sweat it out at the end.
"We have to push each other in practice because that's going to make us better as the competition gets tougher," said Murdoch.
Overall, the coach was happy with the T-wolves' game against the Falcons, but did think they need to work on improving in at least one area.
"Our communication was very quiet [Saturday] I thought, defensively we have to communicate better," she said.
Kady Dandeneau led the T-wolves with 26 points, but it was fourth-year guard Chelsey Thorne who drew the most applause from her teammates when she dunked a free throw for her only point in 7:16 of playing time. Before Thorne earned her only point, the UNBC bench was chanting her name every time she came close to scoring a field goal.
Jennifer Clyne and Jennifer Bruce each contributed 10 points, while Mercedes Van Kougnett had seven rebounds. The Falcons had 25 of their 59 points from the free-throw line with fifth-year forward Carling Muir hitting 12-of-14 from the line and dropping in 18 points in total.
"In preseason, [the Falcons] gave us a better run for our money, so it was good to beat them by a more substantial amount," said Clyne, a fifth-year forward.
Both UNBC teams hit the road this weekend for games with the Douglas College Royals (1-7) on Friday and the Columbia Bible College Bearcats (0-8) on Saturday.
For the women, it should be another opportunity to rotate their lineup as they beat both teams when they were in Prince George in November by a combined 206-73 score. In men's action the Royals (5-3) battled hard in their visit north but the T-wolves pushed ahead in the second half, while the Bearcats (1-7) are still learning the ropes of college ball.
"I think with these type of games where we're winning by 40 or 50 we've just got to work really hard in practice to keep our intensity up so when it comes to playing Capilano and [Vancouver Island University] we can rise to the occasion," said Clyne.
After their trip to the Lower Mainland, the T-wolves squads are off for a week in preparation for an important showdown with the Capilano University Blues at the Northern Sport Centre on Friday, Feb. 3. The T-wolves' women squeaked out a 78-77 overtime win on the road this season over the Blues (6-2), while the UNBC men suffered an 80-55 loss to Capilano (5-3).
