-Basketball fans in Kamloops got a glimpse of what could very well be the 'powerhouse' team in Canada West women's action in the coming years.  The rookie laden University of Fraser Valley Cascades downed the hometown Thompson Rivers University WolfPack 75-50   at the Tournament Capital Centre on Friday (Jan 31).

The victory was UFV's eighth in the row as they improved to 13-4.  The WolfPack, struggling to secure a post season berth fell to 7-10 , dropping their third straight contest
The Cascades have only one fifth year player. The WolfPack have two.

Fraser Valley outscored TRU 16-8 in the second period and held a 30-22 advantage going into the break.  They were led offensively by Nikki Cabuco (1^st year guard, Port Moody, BC) with 16 points.  Taylor Claggett (5^th year, forward, Mission, BC), the Canada West's second  leading scorer had 12 points and 10 boards (leading the league in that category with 10.4 per game) for the Cascades who got 10 points from first year forward Deanna Tuchscherer (Chilliwack, BC).

Jordan Robb (1^st year, forward, Kelowna, BC) had 11 points for Thompson Rivers while Emma Piggin (5^th year, guard, Kamloops, BC) added 10 points and eight rebounds.

The loss puts TRU into a tie for 11 th place in Canada West (12 teams make the post season) with Manitoba. The Bisons lost in Victoria on Friday night 77-72.

The game marked the return of Cascades guard Maddy Gobeil to her hometown. The South Kam grad was playing her first Canada West contest since leading the Titans to back to back Provincial "AA" championships and had a large cheering section.

This was the start of "Alumni Weekend" as well as "Donor Recognition" night for the WolfPack.  The Kamloops Rube Band was on hand to provide entertainment at the breaks, half time and between the men's and women's contests.
 
SYNOPSIS:

Both teams looked a little nervous with one of the largest crowds of the season on hand at the TCC for this one.  Robb  got the games first basket nearly two minutes into the opening period.  With the Pack up 5-4, Piggin made an  spinarama move to the basket to give them a three point advantage over the Cascades.   UFV took their first lead of the game with 1:30 left in the first quarter when  Cabuco sank two four shots to make it 12-11.  The teams were tied at 14.  Piggin  led TRU with nine points while Cabuco was the Cascades top gunner with seven. 

Alex Worrell (3^rd year, guard, Liberia, Costa Rica) opened the second quarter with a three pointer to give UFV a 17-14 advantage.  The teams traded baskets . Four minutes in, Claggett used her speed and size to her benefit scoring a basket and drawing a foul to put UFV up  by three (22-19).  The Cascades led by ten at the half 30-22.   Claggett had eight points and six rebounds while Cabuco had seven points for UFV.  Piggin had 10 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block for TRU.  Megan Rouault (3^rd year, guard, Vernon, BC)  had three points. Four rebounds, two blocks and a steal for the Pack in the opening half.  The Cascades bench outscored the WolfPack bench 12-0 in the first half.

Fraser Valley jumped out to a 10 point early in the third quarter.  Play was halted for a few minutes with three minutes gone in the period when a City of Kamloops forklift (working on setting up for a weekend judo event) ran over an errand ball and created a huge bang.   The distraction was minor for both teams as they resumed their see saw battle.  Late in the first half, Cabuco showed her speed and went to the basket drawing a foul. The three point play gave UFV a 46-35 advantage.  They led by 14 points: 54-37 at the end of three. Cabuco had seven points alone in the third period for UFV. 

The fourth was more of the same as UFV enlarged their lead to 25 points at one point. The Cascades had 10 second chance points in the contest compared to five for Thompson Rivers. The UFV bench had 36 points to TRU's 10.  The Cascades had 11 points off turnovers to TRU's 7.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
https://youtu.be/Oeh3W3OK0ak
 
THEY SAID IT!

WolfPack head coach Goran Nogic (1 st year):
 https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1223489228203413504 
 
WolfPack guard Emma Piggin (5^th year,Kamloops, BC)
 
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1223489134162923520 
 
Fraser Valley head coach Al Tuerscherer (18 th year)
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1223489186595917824  
 
NEXT UP:

The WolfPack and Cascades will do battle again tomorrow night (Sat Feb 1) at the Tournament Capital Centre.  This is alumni weekend with former players from the Cariboo College Gold Rush, University College of the Cariboo Sun Demons and the WolfPack being honored and celebrated.

After Saturday's game, the current edition of the team will honor their two fifth year players: guards Emma Piggin of Kamloops, BC and Leilani Carney of Burnaby, BC.

The WolfPack will close out the 2019-20 Canada West regular season the following weekend (Feb 7-8) in Lethbridge against the Pronghorns. The  above 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.