Christmas break could not come soon enough to save the UNBC Timberwolves women's basketball team.
Despite a 28-point effort from their all-star guard Maria Mongomo, they were trounced 83-47 by the Saskatchewan Huskies Friday in Saskatoon.
The Huskies had four players reach double figures in points and the U Sports Canada West conference leaders effectively shut down the T-wolves offence, limiting UNBC to just nine points in the first and fourth quarters.
Huskies forward Kyla Shand came off the bench to deliver a game-high 16 points. She shot seven-for-12 from the field. Sabine Dukante collected 15 points, while Ashley de Sousa Martins and Meagan Ahlstrom put up 11 points and 10 points respectively. Summer Masikewich was strong under the rim with 12 rebounds, nine on the defensive side, and also contributed three blocks and two assists.
Mongomo proved deadly from long range, hitting on five of her 12 three-point attempts. She finished 10-for-20 from the field.
Saskatchewan led 39-22 at the half and stretched that to 63-38 after three quarters.
The Huskies have now won six in a row and improved to 10-2. The T-wolves, who started the season with six straight wins, have now lost four straight to drop to 6-4.
The UNBC men, meanwhile, put an end to a three-game losing skid by beating the Huskies 83-76 on Friday. The Timberwolves - after a 98-80 loss Thursday night to the Huskies - came out blazing in the rematch and outscored their hosts 30-19 in the first quarter. Saskatchewan swung the momentum in its favour in the second quarter (24-7 in scoring) and had a 43-37 advantage at the half.
The Timberwolves reversed the flow of the game in the third quarter and outscored the Huskies 24-17. They maintained their lead in the fourth and recorded the seven-point victory.
Offensively, Jovan Leamy (27 points) and Vova Pluzhnikov (23 points) paced the Timberwolves. Saskatchewan got a team-high 27 points from Lawrence Moore.
UNBC improved its record to 6-4 while Saskatchewan dropped to 7-5.
Both UNBC teams will be back on the court at the Northern Sport Centre to resume their Canada West schedules Jan. 3-4 when they host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack.
