It was a 'bittersweet' Friday for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's basketball team. The Pack are closing out the 2019-20 Canada West regular season in Lethbridge, Alberta against the U of L Pronghorns.
They woke up to find that Mount Royal's loss to Calgary on Thursday (Feb 6) resulted in Thompson Rivers earning their first playoff spot since 2015-16. The Pack then went out and led the Pronghorns for almost three quarters before falling to the host squad 74-63 at the First Choice Savings Centre.
Lethbridge has won four in a row as they move to 10-9 on the year. Thompson Rivers falls to 7-12 as they have dropped their last five outings.
Thompson Rivers was up 31-28 at the half. The Pack entered the contest as the Canada West leaders in fewest turnovers. That trend went by the wayside as they gave the ball away a season high 21 times in this one compared to 16 for the Pronghorns.
Lethbridge was led by Kacie Bosch (5
th year, guard, Lethbridge, AB) with 22 points and three rebounds. Asnate Fomina (5
th year, guard, Marupe, Latvia) added 12 points, two steals and a block. Katie Keith (5
th year guard, Lethbridge, AB) had 10 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Thompson Rivers top offensive gunner was
Jordin Wilkinson (4
th year, forward, North Battleford, SK). She had 17 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
Megan Rouault (3
rd year, guard, Vernon, BC) had 15 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block
Leilani Carney (5
th year, guard, Burnaby, BC) had 10 points.
Lethbridge out rebounded Thompson Rivers 35-30 in the contest.
Said WolfPack head coach
Goran Nogic afterwards, " We didn't manage to stay mentally in the game in the last four minutes. Our experienced players turned over the ball that gave direct points to Lethbridge. Our defence was very solid at the beginning of the game and very poor in the second half, especially in the last five minutes."
HIGHLIGHTS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6DAtt5y2tw
SYNOPSIS:
The WolfPack jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter. A pair of baskets by Bosch reduced the Pronghorn deficit to 9-6 midway through the first. Bosch led the Lethbridge attack with seven points and two steals in the opening period. Wilkinson and
Emma Piggin (5
th year, guard, Kamloops, BC) had four points a piece to lead Thompson Rivers while
Courtney Sampson (2
nd year, guard, Prince George, BC) added three along with
Kelsey Cruz (1
st year, guard, Calgary, AB): both coming off the bench. Jessica Zarowny (1
st year, forward, Lethbridge, AB) had four points for Lethbridge in the first period which saw each team turnover the ball four times.
The WolfPack enlarged their lead in the second quarter but Lethbridge pressed them and they turned over the ball six more times in that period as the Pronghorns went on a 12-3 run to end the period, outscoring Thompson Rivers 16-15 in the period. Still TRU led 31-28 at the break shooting 48 per cent in that half.
Wilkinson and Piggin had seven points and four rebounds each for Thompson Rivers who got five points and four rebounds in the first half from Rouault . Bosch had 10 points in the first half for Lethbridge, Zarowny had six. Isabell Rattai (4
th year, forward, Cypress Country, AB) had four points and five rebounds while Keith contributed three rebounds, two assists and two steals for the 'Horns.
The second half started with Piggin on the bench for Thompson Rivers accumulating three fouls at that point. The Pronghorns turned over the ball three straight times early in the third quarter and TRU went on a 7-0 run midway through to maintain the lead. But Lethbridge tied it up and took the lead in the second half thanks to some key play from their veterans Keith and Bosch. Keith had 10 second half points to lead the Pronghorns.
The WolfPack will continue their weekend series with the Pronghorns tomorrow (Sat Feb 8) in Lethbridge. The game has a tip off of 5 PM MDT. You can catch the game on www.CanadaWestTV.ca
