The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are halfway towards matching their win total from last season and the  2019-20 Canada West women's basketball season is only a week old.

The WolfPack won their second straight as they swept the Trinity Western University Spartans 60-50 on Saturday (Nov 2). The game was played at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The Pack were led by Leilani Carney (Burnaby, BC) and Emma Piggin (Kamloops, BC).  The two fifth year guards each had 12 points.  Jordon Haggarty (3^rd year, guard, Saskatoon, SK) contributed 11 points.

Trinity Western's top score was Jayden Gill  (1^st year, guard, Abbotsford, BC)  with 15 points while Canada West rookie all-star Nicole Fransson (2^nd year, forward, Edmonton, AB)  had 14.  Fransson is a former Kamloops resident.

SYNOPSIS:

The Spartans got four straight points from Fransson as she looked to repeat her 24 point performance from Friday. But the WolfPack rallied and took the lead.  Fransson had six points in the first quarter for Trinity along with Lana Shypit (1^st year, guard, Winnipeg, MB).

The game marked the debut of WolfPack rookie guards Kelsey Cruz (Calgary, AB) and Sydney Schmidt (Kamloops, BC). Cruz got her first taste of Canada West play late in the first quarter. She scored a bucket to give TRU an 18-13 advantage. The Pack led 18-14 after the first period thanks in part to 7 points from Carney .  Schmidt made her first appearance in the second quarter.

The second quarter saw Trinity outrebound the Pack 13-4  but  Thompson Rivers increased their lead to seven (32-25) thanks in part to five points from  Haggarty.

For a second straight night, the WolfPack came up with some big defensive stops in the third quarter and silenced the Spartans.  They held a commanding 16 point advantage (46-30) going into the final period.  Fransson had only two points for Trinity in the third quarter.  TRU was led in the quarter by Brooklyn Golt (2^nd year, post, Langley, BC) who had four points.

Trinity Western closed the gap in the fourth quarter to two before the WolfPack pulled away to win their second straight.  Haggarty had six points for TRU in the final period while Piggin added four.

The Spartans out rebounded the Pack 40-36 and they turned over the ball 16 times to TRU's 14.  Carney was named "The Den" Leader of the Pack player of the games.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
https://youtu.be/rQZEqEHYGBg
 
THEY SAID IT!
WolfPack head coach Goran Nogic (1^st year):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1190859794438971392 
 
Spartans head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul (10^th year):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1190859767377383424 

WolfPack guard Leilani Carney (5^th year, guard, Burnaby, BC):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1190859714629783553 
 
NEXT UP: The WolfPack will be on the road next weekend (Feb 8-9) as they meet up with the Heat at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna, BC.  Its is the latest installment of the "President's Cup" series between the two schools.  The WolfPack lead the women's division after soccer beat and tied UBCO earlier this year.

The Spartans will return to Langley, BC for their home opener against the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves next Friday and Saturrday.
Next home game for the WolfPack will be against UNBC.  That will be the weekend of November 22-23^rd. It's the last time in the 2019 calendar year the Pack will be at home.