They have the talent and the experience.
Unfortunately, the UNBC Timberwolves also had a bad case of the nerves when they played their first games of the Canada West women's basketball season last weekend in Winnipeg. Their jitters contributed to losses against the Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen and left them lamenting the fact they let some potential points slip away.
The Timberwolves will have the chance to put their disappointing start behind them when they play their home-opener today (6 p.m.) at the Northern Sport Centre against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack of Kamloops.
"If they just show their game, without [being] nervous, we can be all right," UNBC coach Sergey Shchepotkin said of his players. "They were very close to show[ing] their best in Winnipeg and because of their nervous[ness] I didn't see it."
The Timberwolves fell 73-69 to the Bisons and 75-49 to the Wesmen. Both opponents were rated lower than the T-wolves in a Canada West pre-season coaches' poll.
If the T-wolves underachieved on opening weekend, the WolfPack may have done the opposite. After a 76-54 home-court loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies last Friday, the TRU women pulled off a major upset the next night when they beat the Alberta Pandas 67-58. Heading into that game, the Pandas were ranked second in all of Canada.
Shchepotkin is expecting another strong effort from the WolfPack tonight.
"It's not an easy team," he said. "It's a very well-organized team. They have a couple very good freshmen who have already become leaders and they have tall players, which we're short on."
One of the standout freshmen for TRU is five-foot-eight guard Sydney Williams, who scored 15 points in 37 minutes of playing time in the win against the Pandas.
The Timberwolves may be able to take some confidence from the fact they beat the WolfPack 79-66 in a pre-season game on Oct. 13. Success tonight -- and pretty much every night they play -- will require leadership at both ends of the court from fifth-year veterans Mercedes Van Koughnett, Emily Kaehn and Jen Bruce, as well as from fourth-year standout Sarah Robin.
"They are very important," Shchepotkin said. "They are the base of our team but I'm waiting [for] our freshmen to start to show their game because we have pretty talented girls. If they can show that, it will help us a lot."
Shchepotkin sees potential in all of the team's youngsters but has particularly high hopes for local guards Cassie Rerick and Mavia Nijjer. Guard Kylie Pozniak of Okotoks, Alta., and forward Carly Corrado of Kelowna also fall in that category.
Shchepotkin himself has a long playing and coaching history -- including at the professional level overseas -- but is a first-year head coach in Canada West. He took over from former sideline boss Loralyn Murdoch in August and is looking forward to making his own home debut tonight.
"I'm very excited," he said. "I'd like to show good basketball and I hope we can do that."
The Timberwolves and WolfPack will also be on the NSC court at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
