UNBC women just miss home playoff date
It was a bittersweet day for the UNBC Timberwolves women’s basketball team.
The T-wolves managed to beat the Lethbridge Pronghorns 79-76 Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre on the basketball court but failed their math test conducted in the inner workings of the Canada West conference.
As a result, they will have to start the playoffs on the road and play the Trinity Western Spartans Friday night in Langley.
Win-loss records determine which 12 teams qualify for playoffs. To determine playoff seedings, the conference uses the ratings performance index (RPI), which takes into account the strength of each team’s schedule and the quality of its opponents and that was all it took to bump the T-wolves from eighth place and the right to host the opening playoff round, down to ninth.
UNBC’s RPI index of .525 was two/thousandths of a point lower than Trinity Western’s .527, denying the T-wolves the chance to become the first UNBC team to ever host a Canada West playoff game. But they did lock up their third consecutive postseason berth, finishing with a best-ever 11-9 record.
In their regular-season finale, the T-wolves fought back from a four-point deficit in the first quarter to lead 36-34 at the half, then waged a narrow battle with the Pronghorns the rest of the game to hang on to the victory, avenging a 77-71 loss to Lethbridge on Friday.
Graduating senior Vasiliki Louka, in her last game for the T-wolves on home court, was held to just four points in the first half but started finding her range in a six-point third quarter and had 12 more in the final quarter for a total of 22. The fifth-year post finished tops in Canada West in rebounding with an average 12.7 per game and was eighth in the scoring race, averaging 17.3 points per game.
Even when she wasn’t scoring in the first half, Louka was still dominant, using her six-foot-three height to block shots and haul in wayward balls. Her presence drew two and sometimes three checkers, which left her teammates open in other areas around the court.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game because Lethbridge wanted this game and we wanted it too and in the end I think we did a better job executing the best options and playing good defence and it’s really nice that we won,” said Louka.
“I try to help my team with whatever my good weapons are and defensively, under the basket, I won’t let anyone drive easy. I have to try to find different ways to help my team apart from scoring because sometimes it’s not my day, so I have to find something different.”
Maria Mongomo did what Twolves fans have come to expect as a fourth-year guard near the top of the scoring chart. She put up 19 points (close to her 19.9 average, third-best in Canada West), she hit three of her six three-point attempts and shot 6-for-15 from the field. Mongomo’s quickness and anticipation forced the Pronghorns into mistakes that led to four steals to add to her season total of 50 (second in the conference).
Kacie Bosch was the most dangerous Pronghorn, scoring 18 points. Asnate Fomina had 15 points and Amy Mazuntenic fired 13 points. Katie Keith picked up 10 rebounds.
Madison Landry shot a gamehigh 23 points for UNBC and many of those points came at just the right time to keep her team in the lead. Alina Shakirova came off the bench to put in a strong defensive effort shadowing the Pronghorns’ top scorers and she collected 13 points, none more crucial than the two she sunk with a baseline drive with two seconds left on the shot clock to give UNBC a four-point lead with 14 seconds left. That entire sequence of passes and dribbles to avoid the Pronghorns going down to the other end for a potential goahead shot was a classic example of time management and ball control to defuse a tense situation.
“I think this win really showed our character, coming back from the loss, we really stuck together as a team today and our intensity was up the whole game and it feels so good to get that last win of the season,” said Landry, sporting a shiner under her left eye after taking an elbow under the rim late in Friday’s game.
Louka and UNBC guard Abby Gibb are the two graduating seniors on the UNBC women’s team.
“We’re definitely sad to see them go. They’re great people on and off the court, they’ve given so much to the program and the team and we’re really thankful we got to play with them,” said Landry.
The Pronghorns (12-8, seventh place) will host Manitoba in a onegame playoff this Friday.