Lace up your Nikes, Prince George because basketball season is here for UNBC.
The Timberwolves’ women’s and men’s team kick off the 2019-20 Canada West campaign this weekend, Nov. 1 and 2, on the home hardwood when they both welcome the Victoria Vikes to the Northern Sport Centre.
This season has high hopes for the program as UNBC continues to make strides, like clinching playoff appearances, three in a row for the women and two for the men.
The Lady T-Wolves were the historymakers last season by winning their first-ever playoff game, defeating the Trinity Western Spartans in the wild-card.
They would eventually fall 0-2 in the best-of-three quarter-finals to the Calgary Dinos but prior to the post-season, they finished with an 11-9 record, their best since joining the Canada West Conference in 2012.
UNBC hopes to take the program even further despite losing some key players to graduation, including Vasiliki Louka, the all-time women’s basketball program leader in points, rebounds, and blocks.
The fact they get to start in their own barn is a plus, says third-year guard Alina Shakirova.
“Our team has been working hard in the preseason, so it’s time to show what we’ve got,” she said in a team release. “We have really high hopes for this season. We want to make playoffs and go one step further than we did last year. We have been building this preseason, and I think we have a great team to reach our goals.”
Shakirova is one of three imports on the T-Wolves this year, which also includes returning fifth-year Maria Mongomo of Spain, who only needs eight points to reach 1,300 in her collegiate career.
UNBC WOMEN’S 2018-19 SEASON LEADERS
- Scoring Leader: Maria Mongomo (19.9 per game)
- Rebounding Leader: Vasiliki Louka (12.7 per game)
- Assists Leader: Madison Landry (3.6 per game)
- Steals Leader: Maria Mongomo (2.5 per game)
- Blocks Leader: Vasiliki Louka (1.1 per game)
On the men’s side, they’re a younger team this year as half of the players are either a freshman or sophomore.
Last season, they had a sub-500 record of 9-11, made the playoffs a second straight season, but fell in the knockout stage to the UFV Cascades by a mere eight points.
The 2019-20 roster is led by Ukraine’s Vova Pluzhnikov, a fourth-year guard with a lot of power on offense, and Prince George product Tyrell Laing, also in his fourth season and though there isn’t an official ‘C’ on his jersey, one could argue he’s expected to act like the captain this season.
“My role has changed a lot in the past year,” he said in the release. “I now have increased responsibility in leadership, scoring, and decision-making. This increases my ability to dictate the outcome of games, which is a challenge I am ready for.”
Laing adds UNBC’s goal is to not only make a statement in the first weekend of play, but to also improve on team skills that can take them beyond Feb. 8, 2020, the last regular season game.
“Our goal is to ultimately make a return to the playoffs,” he said. “We have a young team with guys in new roles. But if we are able to tap into our potential, we are going to be a very tough, competitive team.”
UNBC MEN’S 2018-19 SEASON LEADERS
- Scoring Leader: Jovan Leamy (18.1 per game)
- Rebounding Leader: Vaggelis Loukas (8.6 per game)
- Assists Leader: James Agyeman (3.2 per game)
- Steals Leader: Jovan Leamy (3.0 per game)
- Blocks Leader: Jovan Leamy (1.1 per game)
The women’s team tips-off against Victoria at 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 1) and 5 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 2).
The men will follow each night at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
