The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack battled back from a 15 point second quarter deficit and forced the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves to overtime before falling 87-77 in Canada West women's basketball action Saturday (Nov 23) in Kamloops.

The teams were tied at 72 after regulation time before the Timberwolves got a pair of key baskets from Alina Shakirova (3^rd year, guard, Moscow, Russia) in the extra period to go onto victory.
Two members of the Timberwolves: Madison Landry (4^th year, forward, Prince George BC) and Maria Mongomo (5^th year, forward, Las Palmas, Spain) had over 30 0oints. Landry had 36 points to go with five rebounds while Mongomo had 31 points and 8 boards.  Shakirova wound up with 11 points and 13 rebounds (eight defensively).

The WolfPack had four players in double figures: Emma Piggin (5^th year, guard, Kamloops, BC) had 21 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight 'double double'.  Jordon Haggerty (3^rd year, guard, Saskatoon, SK) had 15 points and six rebounds.  Leilani Carney (5^th year, guard, Burnaby, BC) added 12 points while Megan Rouault (3^rd year, guard, Vernon, BC) added 11 points and eight rebounds (six on the defensive glass).

UNBC moves to 3-5 on the year while Thompson Rivers falls to 5-3.

SYNOPSIS:

The Timberwolves got off to a great start and led by as much as ten points in the opening quarter led by  Mongomo  and Landry. The led 23-15 after the first period.  Mongomo had 11 points and three rebounds while Landry had nine points.Carney  led TRU with five points. The Timberwolves turned over the ball five times to TRU's three.

The WolfPack tightened their defence and cut the deficit to two in the second half (37-35). Haggerty  had six points in that second period for TRU while Brooklyn Golt (2^nd year, forward, Langley, BC) added five in that stanza.  Mongomo had eight in the second quarter to give her 19 through two periods.

The third quarter was a wild affair as the Timberwolves increased their lead to seven at one point.  With five minutes left, Jordin Wilkinson (4^th year, guard, North Battleford, SK) drained a three pointer to cut the UNBC lead to 48-46.  Haggerty went to the line with 2:40 left and sank two free throws to tie it at 51 but the Timberwolves, thanks in part to a three pointer from Mongomo with 52 seconds left opened up a five point advantage 57-52 going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was again a run and gun show. Piggin drained a three pointer with 4:33 left in regulation to cut UNBC's lead to one (65-64).   She did the same thing with 2:15 remaining to cut the Timberwolves lead to 68-66.  Less than a minute later, Golt went inside to tie the contest at 68. 
Piggin worked her magic with 17.4 seconds left as her three pointer tied things at 72 and sent the game into extra time, where the Timberwolves outscored the WolfPack by ten to come away with the victory.
HIGHLIGHTS:
https://youtu.be/Bi82lXSooh8
 
THEY SAID IT!

WolfPack head coach  Goran Nogic (1^st year):
 https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198490256657408000
 
WolfPack guard Emma Piggin (5^th year, guard, Kamloops, BC):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198488400971497472
 
UNBC forward Madison Landry (4^th year, Prince George, BC):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198490202953510912 


NEXT UP:

The WolfPack will close out the pre-Christmas portion of their Canada West season next weekend (Nov 29-30) against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Both of those games will be at the Tournament Capital Centre.  The Timberwolves have a bye next week and don't play again until Friday, January 3, 2020 when they visit the Dinos in Calgary.
All those games will be webcast on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op by accessing: https://cw.yaretv.com/.  
Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website  www.goWolfPack.ca.