Heat women’s forward, Korol, named 3rd star
Canada West recognized another UBC Okanagan athlete in its weekly awards, with Heat women’s basketball forward Jordan Korol selected as the third star for her efforts in Calgary last weekend.
UBCO lost both games — falling 73-62 on Friday and 78-76 on Saturday against Mount Royal — but Korol, a fourth-year player from Coldstream, did everything in her power to give the Heat women their first win of the Canada West season.
Korol produced a pair of double-doubles with 26 points and 18 rebounds in the opener, then 24 points and 15 rebounds in the rematch. Those were the best numbers of her career to date. On Friday, in the second half alone, Korol tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds to send her to single-game career highs in both points (26) and rebounds (18).
Then in the first half on Saturday, Korol kept the hot hand with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
She finished the two-game road series with 50 total points, shooting 50 per cent (21-of-42), and cleaning up on the glass, hauling in 33 total boards with 14 on the offensive end.
Korol and the winless Heat women (0-8) will head to Kamloops for a pair of matinees this Friday and Saturday in a Presidents’ Cup matchup against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (1-5).
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Heat men (5-3) got back in the win column while settling for a split at Mount Royal.
UBCO prevailed 80-78 on Saturday to halt a three-game losing skid, which included an 85-73 setback to the host Cougars in Friday’s opener after dropping two at home the previous weekend to Lethbridge following a 4-0 start to the Canada West season.
“It was a big win for our guys. A real super effort, the guys played hard,” Heat coach Ken Olynyk said of Saturday’s bounce-back effort.
“Overall, the weekend was a success, we are still 5-3 and above .500, that places us (in a four-way tie for fourth) in Canada West, and we look to keep it going this weekend at TRU.”
The Heat continue their road trip against interior rivals, the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (2-4), who used to employ Olynyk as their athletic director.
Against Mount Royal, the Heat led 41-38 at halftime on Friday and let that game get away, but they made amends on Saturday by rallying for the victory — outscoring the hosts 47-41 in the second half. The Cougars (4-4) fell to .500 after losing that battle between teams with 4-3 records.
Aldrich Berrios led the Heat men with 30 points on Saturday — including 23 in the second half — but it was transfer David Okoroafor who delivered the win by draining two free-throws with four seconds left to put the Heat up by two.