Even in the most difficult and unusual of circumstances, the UNBC women’s basketball team continues to shatter records easy as pie.
The Lady Timberwolves raised a new fundraising bar for its school in the amount of $4,147.88 for the annual U SPORTS Shoot for the Cure, which went virtual this year as a result of COVID-19.
All the funds are going to support the Canadian Cancer Society for the advancement of breast cancer research.
The 2021 campaign ended with a big pie shoved into head coach Sergey Shchepotkin’s face earlier this week.
The @UNBCWomensBball program raised more than $4000 for #ShootfortheCure - most in @CanadaWest! Part of their reward was the chance to pie @UNBC coach Sergey Shchepotkin in the face. Clearly, Coach Sergey held up his end of the deal. Thank you for all your support! #RunAsOne pic.twitter.com/fdtbdnddh6
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 10, 2021
“This community, time and time again, shows how incredible it is,” said UNBC Athletics Director Loralyn Murdoch to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
“We are really proud to be able to spearhead so many causes and fundraisers, but none of it is possible without the support of our Timberwolves fans, and the great people of northern B.C. Thank you to everyone who supported our women’s team. It means the world.”
UNBC garnered the second-most funds in the Canada West conference this year.
The University of Victoria collected $15,100 for the cause with both its women’s and men’s basketball programs participating and donations matched by school officials.
Every member of the T-Wolves got a pie smashed in their face, which served as motivation to themselves and the public after completing a free-throw shooting competition while wearing their specially-made pink jerseys, which they would normally wear in a regular-season game dedicated to Shoot for the Cure.
COVID-19, unfortunately, cancelled the 2020-21 season in the fall.
“This is a hugely important cause that has directly affected so many of us, so to see the leadership from our Timberwolves was tremendous,” said Murdoch, whose sister Shannon is named on the back of each uniform as she succumbed to breast cancer less than a decade ago.
“Obviously, we weren’t able to have them in the pink jerseys this year for a home game, but they really stepped up and we are so proud of them.”
UNBC landed the eighth-highest amount of all participating programs across the country, with the University of New Brunswick topping the pack with more than $16,300.
U SPORTS programs raised nearly $123,000 in the virtual 2021 event, the highest collective total in five years.
