Mercedes Van Koughnett certainly made up for lost time.
A week after an ankle injury forced her to miss her first game in five seasons for the UNBC Timberwolves women's basketball team, the fifth-year guard missed just seven minutes of court time in two weekend games in Kelowna.
On Saturday, Van Koughnett played all but one minute in leading the T-wolves to 79-72 win over the host UBC-Okanagan Heat. She shot a team-high 18 points had nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
UNBC took the lead with two minutes left after back-to-back layups from Sarah Robin and Emily Kaehn. Lights-out foul shooting from Robin, Kylie Pozniak and Jen Bruce sealed it.
Saturday's win improved the T-wolves record to 4-6, while the Heat dropped to 2-8.
Van Koughnett was also a force in Friday's 77-72 loss to the Heat, collecting 20 points and nine assists in 34 minutes on the floor. Her three-point shot tied the game 72-72 with 63 seconds left but the Heat responded on the ensuing drive when Emily Kanester sunk a trey to restore the lead for UBC-O. Kanester finished with 18 points. Jarprit Nijjar countered with 14 points for UNBC.
The weekend wasn't quite so productive for the UNBC men, who lost both games in Kelowna against the previously winless Heat. Stuart Wallensteen led the guys from Kelowna with 19 points in an 81-73 win Saturday, and had plenty of support from Mitch Goodwin, who collected 12 points and 10 rebounds. Charles Barton was the top T-wolves shooter with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. He went 4-for-7 from three-point range.
On Friday night, Goodwin hit for 27 points to power the Heat to a 76-69 victory. UBC-O overcame a four-point deficit in the third quarter, outscoring UNBC 18-11 and held the lead the rest of the game. UNBC. Franck Olivier Kouagnia made it a two-point game with a layup with 1:38 left but the Heat sealed the win with a steal and timely bucket from Wallensteen. Barton collected 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The T-wolves men fell to 3-7 on the season, while last-place UBC-O is at 2-8 as the league heads into its semester break.
UNBC's next games are at home Jan. 9 against Calgary and Jan. 11 against Lethbridge. Both T-wolves teams are booked to play at a tournament in California over the Christmas break.
