After dictating the outcomes in three of the four games played last weekend at the Northern Sport Centre, the UNBC Timberwolves men's and women's basketball teams should be inspired to try to make it perfect four-win weekend this time around.
The UNBC men got that winless monkey of their backs first, recording back-to-back victories over the Trinity Western University Spartans to improve to 2-4 and climb out of the U Sports Canada West Conference basement.
The T-wolves will be in Abbotsford tonight to take on the Fraser Valley Cascades (2-2) in a two-game weekend set. The T-wolves lost three of four against Fraser Valley last season and UNBC head coach Todd Jordan says his team's success hinges on their ability to limit the outside shooting threats posed by Cascade guards Vijay Dhillon and Manny Dulay.
"Their starting guards are both outstanding three-point shooters who were in the top 10 of the Canada West leaders in three-point makes last season," Jordan told UNBC communications officer Peter James. "We will need to limit their looks as well as take care of the defensive glass in order to be successful. The guys are definitely excited to step up to the challenge they present."
The T-wolves' offence is built around their ability to hit long-range bombs and they will lean heavily on fifth-year guard Rhys Elliott, who is averaging 19.5 points per game (fifth in Canada West) and leads the conference in field goals with 26. Marcus MacKay, another senior guard, is also capable of finding the target from outside the circle, as he proved in Saturday's 85-70 win over TWU, when he nailed six of his 12 three-point attempts.
The UNBC women (1-5) rebounded from a seven-point loss last Friday to defeat the Spartans 82-81 on Saturday, their first win of the season. Rookie forward Madison Landry had a lot to do with that, scoring seven points down the stretch to provide the margin of victory. That came less than week after the T-wolves pushed the Alberta Pandas (now 6-0) to overtime.
"The players really believe in themselves after the last two weekends," said UNBC women's head coach Sergey Shchepotkin. "They played really well against Alberta and in the second game against Trinity Western and are really excited to play Fraser Valley."
To have success against the Cascades (2-2), the T-wolves will need sophomore point guard Maria Mongomo to continue playing like she has been lately. The Spanish import ranks ninth in Canada West in scoring with a 15.3-point average, and leads the conference in defensive rebounds with 41. She's averaging 3.2 assists per game through six games, eighth-best among her peers.
UNBC forward Vasiliki Louka is also coming off a strong game Saturday in which she led UNBC with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Louka is averaging 15.2 points, 10th-best in the conference,
The T-wolves plan to key on guard Kayli Sartori, who averages 16 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Both UNBC teams have four games left before the Christmas break.
