Based on accumulated evidence, the UNBC Timberwolves women's basketball team is facing a season of getting bounced.
In their first two games of the Canada West regular season last weekend, the Timberwolves lost twice by lopsided scores to the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. The first game ended 85-55 in favour of TRU and the second one saw the WolfPack run to an even more dominant 82-39 victory. Within the six-team Explorers Division of Canada West, the Kamloops-based WolfPack is expected to be one of the better clubs - along with the University of the Fraser Valley and MacEwan University - so at least the T-wolves can take consolation from the fact they were beaten by a pretty good squad.
But, looking back, the UNBC women also struggled mightily in the pre-season. They lost seven of their nine games, and their only two wins came against college-level teams - 62-48 against Grande Prairie and 63-59 against Red Deer.
The Timberwolves will try for their first win of the Canada West season tonight in Abbostford when they take on the University of the Fraser Valley but that will be no simple task either. UFV already sits at 2-0 thanks to a couple of wins against UBC Okanagan last weekend.
Already, the Explorers Division is separating itself into a top-three and a bottom-three, with the lower-echelon teams being Mount Royal, UBC Okanagan and UNBC (all 0-2 so far). At the end of the 20-game regular season, only the top three will move on to playoffs against Canada West's more established teams in the Pioneers Division.
Realistically, for the Timberwolves to secure points this season, they'll have to earn them against Mount Royal and UBCO. Those games should prove to be dogfights, as UNBC and those two rivals were grouped together at the bottom of Canada West in the pre-season rankings.
Considering the outlook for the Timberwolves this season - their third in Canada West - it's easy to look back on the days when they were a powerhouse at the B.C. college level and sigh with regret. At this higher level, there will be no playoff championships in the foreseeable future.
But, for better or worse, the T-wolves are in Canada West and will strive to grow as a team and a program. With effective coaching and recruiting, the UNBC women could contend with the top teams in their division a few years down the road.
Right now, however, they are young and will take their lumps on a lot of game nights. With the graduation of star players Mercedes Van Koughnett, Emily Kaehn and Jen Bruce at the end of last season, they are left with just one fifth-year player (forward Kellie Fluit) and one fourth-year player (forward Sarah Robin). Jasprit Nijjar, a promising post player, is in her third year of eligibility and so is guard Stacey Graham but the rest of the active roster is filled out by rookies and sophomores - nine of them in total.
As a group, the T-wolves will play as hard as they can every time they're on the floor. They'll do their best to represent their school and city and, for that, will be deserving of credit and support from local basketball watchers.
But, guaranteed, there will be more long nights like the ones they experienced against the WolfPack. In the name of development, that's the price to be paid in Canada West.
