The UFV Cascades women’s basketball team is back on track, after completing a sweep of the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday and Saturday.
UFV led for all but 42 seconds of the game on Friday, and won 80-68.
The Cascades shot 46.9 per cent from the field, and had balanced scoring from players Shayna Cameron (21 points), Kayli Sartori (17 points, eight rebounds and five assists), Taylor Claggett (17 points and seven rebounds) and Sydney Williams (14 points).
They followed that up with another dominant performance, leading UNBC for the entire game in a 78-67 win. Sartori had another big game, with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Claggett added 17 points and six rebounds.
“I thought it was a great performance for our team,” said women’s team head coach Al Tuchscherer after Saturday’s game. “We came out with a lot of energy and played fantastic basketball for a lot of the game, which enabled us to get a lot of our girls into the game (in the fourth quarter), which was super-valuable to us.”
He also praised the play of Sartori, who earned Canada West third star of the week last week.
“Kayli is leading us in a lot of different ways,” Tuchscherer said. “She’s a calming influence on our team, and it’s nice for us to know she’s a tough match-up for other teams.”
The women improve to a record of four wins and two losses, and are tied for third in the Explorer division.
Meanwhile, the men earned a split with the T-Wolves, losing 81-74 on Friday, and winning 74-72 on Saturday.
The Cascades had a seven-point lead at the half on Friday, but UNBC turned it on the second half. Kevon Parchment had 25 points and 11 rebounds in a losing cause.
It was a similar story on Saturday, but the Cascades managed to hang on for the win. Vijay Dhillon scored a team-high 20 points, while Navjot Bains had a double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“It’s a tough place to play, and when they get on a roll, that place starts to get loud,” said men’s head coach Adam Friesen, whose team led 22-10 after the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead for much of the evening. “They really got rolling (in the fourth quarter),and we didn’t do a great job of slowing them down once that happened. We needed everyone tonight. We didn’t play our best basketball,but a lot of guys stepped up.”
The men’s team is tied for first in the Explorer division, with a record of five wins and one loss.
The teams wrap up the calendar year with road games against the TRU Wolfpack on Friday and Saturday.