The University of the Fraser Valley basketball teams opened the Canada West regular season by sweeping a weekend series against the UBC Okanagan Heat in Kelowna.
The Cascades women worked overtime in Friday’s opener – Kaitlyn McDonald was fouled on a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and she hit all three ensuing free throws to tie the game 70-70. UFV pulled away in the extra session and won 82-75. Nataliia Gavryliuk (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Sarah Wierks (11 points, 16 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for the Cascades.
The women completed the sweep on Saturday with a much more dominant effort, dispatching the Heat by a 78-58 score. Katie Brink scored 10 straight UFV points in the third quarter to kick-start the blowout, and she finished with a team-high 18 points. Fellow post players Wierks (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Shayna Litman (13 points, nine rebounds) also thrived on Saturday, and Gavryliuk added 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“We wanted to work the ball inside, and those three (Brink, Wierks and Litman) are a handful for anybody, it doesn’t matter who we play,” head coach Al Tuchscherer said. “They’re tough, physical , veteran players, and we need them to do that for us to be successful.
“We had a game plan today very similar to yesterday’s, and we followed it a lot better. That was encouraging.”
Both of the Cascades men’s games were hotly contested, but UFV pulled away in the fourth quarter both nights, winning 84-76 on Friday and 81-73 on Saturday.
Nate Brown led the attack with 20 points on Friday, while Kadeem Willis notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
On Saturday, fifth-year centre Jasper Moedt scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, and Dominique Brown and Kevon Parchment contributed 15 points apiece.
“Down the stretch, we were just able to make a few more shots and take advantage of our opportunities,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said. “But we understand we have to play a lot better in the coming weekends if we’re to continue having success.”
The UFV basketball teams host their home openers this coming week – the UNBC Timberwolves are the guests on Friday (women 6 pm, men 8 pm) and Saturday (women 5 pm, men 7 pm) at the Envision Athletic Centre.
For more information, contact Dan Kinvig at dan.kinvig@ufv.ca
11/14/2014