They got a real test from Quest. But, the UNBC Northern Timberwolves held off their scrappy opponent and stayed unbeaten on the season.
Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre, the UNBC women's basketball team defeated the Quest University Kermodes of Squamish 77-63. In the PACWEST Athletic Association, the Timberwolves elevated their record to 12-0 while the Kermodes slipped to 7-5.
The Timberwolves were pushed all game by the determined Kermodes but were able to wear down the visitors as time ticked on. The two differences were the UNBC defence and a shining effort by T-wolves veteran Kady Dandeneau, who was physically dominant at both ends of the floor and finished with a game-high 31 points. For good measure, she added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29:30 of playing time.
"I've been having a good week in practice so I just really wanted to do what I can," said Dandeneau, a fourth-year guard/forward from Pender Island.
Defensively, the Timberwolves forced the Kermodes into 28 turnovers. Not only did the Kermodes lose all those scoring opportunities, they saw the speedy T-wolves generate 19 points off the miscues.
"We've been doing a lot of track and running the ball in practice a lot so we're in pretty good shape," Dandeneau said of the team's work on the defensive side of the ball. "It's kind of what we do to teams. Come third, fourth quarter, we're up in their face and it's just hard for them to handle and that's when they usually kind of let go. But to be honest, Quest did stick with us quite a bit."
Quest's chance for a major upset suffered a major blow when six-foot rookie forward Katryn Sandbichler sustained a right knee injury with five seconds left in the first half. Sandbichler was driving into the T-wolves' defence when she crashed heavily to the floor under the hoop. Her knee began to swell immediately and she didn't return. At the time of her injury, she was leading the Kermodes with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Quest coach Mike Woollard, a former assistant at UNBC, said the initial diagnosis was a damaged anterior cruciate ligament.
"We won't know until she gets an MRI," he said. "Hopefully we get that done quickly."
Overall, Woollard liked his team's tenacious play but bemoaned the high number of giveaways.
"We turned the ball over too much to really beat a team that's of UNBC's calibre," he said. "But if we take care of the ball and we get our lay-ups to go early ... we were in the game for quite a while."
Jennifer Clyne, a graduating UNBC forward who was appearing in the final home game of her five-year career, added 16 points for the Timberwolves. Sarah Robin chipped in with 10.
The game was also the last home-court outing for post players Erin Beckett and Maria Neumann. All three players were recognized for their contributions to UNBC basketball during a ceremony after the final buzzer.
The T-wolves have four regular-season games left on their schedule, all of them on the road. This coming weekend, they'll face the Camosun College Chargers of Victoria (Friday) and the Vancouver Island University Mariners of Nanaimo (Saturday). Fifth-place Camosun currently sits at 6-7, while second-place VIU has a 12-1 record.