To their surprise, the UNBC Northern Timberwolves are heading into playoffs in the best possible position.
The UNBC women's basketball team clinched first place in the PACWEST Athletic Association when they won their final game of the regular season Saturday night in Surrey. The Timberwolves downed the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles 87-50. The victory, combined with their 66-41 Friday triumph against the Langara College Falcons and a 70-68 upset win for the Capilano University Blues over the Vancouver Island University Mariners, vaulted the T-wolves past the Mariners to the top of the standings.
As the first-place team, UNBC gets a bye to the semifinal round in the PACWEST provincial championship tournament and is in position to get a more favourable match-up in that first game.
"We're so lucky," said fifth-year UNBC forward Jennifer Clyne. "We're going to have a much better draw [in playoffs] because we'll play Camosun most likely, compared to playing Capilano, and that is obviously an easier game for us. We have to capitalize on that. We have to take it seriously and do what we have to do to get to the final game."
In the quarterfinals, fourth-seeded Quest University will face fifth-ranked Camosun College, while third-ranked Capilano will take on sixth-seeded Kwantlen. The Quest-Camosun winner will meet UNBC in the semis and the Capilano-Kwantlen winner will clash with VIU, the No. 2 seed.
The T-wolves will play their semifinal March 2 at Capilano's North Vancouver campus. The winner of the March 3 championship game will represent B.C. at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association nationals, March 15-17 in Lethbridge.
During a 15-1 season, the T-wolves' only loss was at the hands of the Mariners, who beat them 73-57 on Feb. 11. UNBC had two tough games against Capilano but prevailed 78-77 in overtime and 84-77.
This is the second regular-season championship for the Timberwolves, who are in their 13th year in the league. They also finished first in 2009-10 when they rolled to a 17-1 record. In those playoffs, however, the T-wolves were upset 57-56 by Camosun in the semifinals and then lost 63-57 to VIU in the bronze-medal game.
UNBC coach Loralyn Murdoch said the disappointment of the 2010 playoffs is ancient history.
"That's a different team, different year, different circumstances," Murdoch said. "This is a new year and a new group. Two years ago is not what we talk about. We have our own goals and our own definition of success and what we want to do."
Success was something second-year forward Sarah Robin enjoyed in both weekend games. She had 12 points in 13 minutes of court time on Friday and exploded for 27 points on Saturday.
"I put a lot of emphasis on her on Friday and Saturday, just to see how she would handle the pressure and she did very, very well," Murdoch said.
Clyne, meanwhile, said Robin is peaking at the right time of year.
"Every time I watch her she's doing better," Clyne said. "I feel like she's figured it out and she's so athletic. There's no limit on what she can do out there."
