Sveta Boykova’s double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) and a career-best 20 points from second-year forward Viktoriia Filatova added up to 61-51 victory for the UNBC Timberwolves over the visiting Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Sunday afternoon at Brownridge Court at the Northern Sport Centre.
The TWolves (1-1) rewarded the frenzied home crowd with a 7-0 run to start the game. The first official Canada West bucket at Brownridge Court was an awesome 'and 1' finish for point guard Sarah Kuklisin.
Sophia Fuller and Bella Mesquita each followed with buckets. Kuklisin added jumper three minutes into the game, helping UNBC to a 9-2 early lead.
With UNBC leading 16-7, the WolfPack found some life. Priyanca Sundher started the TRU rally with a triple, and both Olivia Randall and Allison Hansen followed up with a pair of free throws. Then with time ticking down, Sundher hit a jumper, tying the score at 19-19 which is how the first would end.
TRU outscored UNBC 16-7 in the second quarter. Six of the 16 came from Danijela Kovacevic, and Randall hit an early triple in the opening minute which put TRU ahead. Defensively the WolfPack stifled the TWolves keeping them scoreless for the opening five minutes and change. Boykova changed that with five unanswered points and Yana Shupak rounded out the scoring for UNBC with a pair of free-throws, marking her first career Canada West points.
At the half the WolfPack led 35-36, despite being out rebounded 22-18. Sundher, Kovacevic and Morgan Eichenberger each had eight points in the first half for TRU while Kuklisin and Boykova each had five apiece for UNBC.
Trailing by 13 in the opening minutes of the third, Sergey Shchepotkin's club caught fire. First it was Kuklisin who finished off a layup. Then Filatova nailed a three, and a two in back-to-back possessions, pushing the gap to six. Boykova then hit a layup, and all of a sudden TRU's lead was four (42-38). Defensively the TWolves remained solid, and it resulted in layups for Boykova and Filatova and a total erasure of a 13-point deficit.
A single free throw from Eichenberger ended the run and restored the TRU lead. But the Brownridge Court roof shook a few moments later when Brynn Dergousoff blocked Eichenberger in close, and then Filatova finished off a layup at the other end, giving UNBC the lead back. Next possession, Adaiah Tupas-Singh drilled a three and gave the TWolves a 47-43 lead through three quarters.
Filatova nailed an early three in the fourth and Boykova added two more, which pushed the TWolves lead to nine early the fourth. With UNBC leading by 11, Randall hit a three which moved TRU back within eight, but TRU would only manage five more points for the remainder of the fourth. At the other end, Boykova and Filatova combined for 12 of UNBCs eventual 14 fourth-quarter points and Amrit Manak hit two free-throws to cap the victory.
Kovacevic led all TRU scorers with 13 while Randall and Eichenberger added 11 apiece.
UNBC will travel to Victoria to face the Vikes (1-1) on Friday.
The TWolves dropped an 84-64 decision to the UBC-Okanagan Heat in their opener last Friday.
WolfPack tops UNBC men in overtime
The UNBC men fell to 0-2 on the season, losing 88-85 in overtime to the WolfPack Sunday afternoon at the Northern Sport Centre.
UNBC fought back from a 74-67 deficit in the fourth quarter to tie it.
A single free-throw from Justin Sunga, and a put-back layup from Evgeny Baukin got UNBC back within four. Baukin hit another layup and Isaiah Bias then hit two free-throws, tying the score at 74 with a minute left.
The score remained tied with 17 seconds left, and TRU ball. But a steal from Sunga set up a buzzer-beating chance for UNBC that came up empty. That meant overtime at Brownridge Court.
Sunga and Dami Farinloye swapped early buckets on the opening possessions of overtime, and then Baukin hit a layup to push UNBC ahead by two. A three from Denys Bachurin restored a one-point TRU. A single free-throw from Erin Chamble moved TRU's lead to 80-78. The TWolves answered with a smooth finish from Baukin in close off a Gillespie feed.
Back came the 'Pack with a layup from Asher Mayan, but UNBC answered with a pair of successful free-throws from Baukin (82-82). Josh Gillespie then forced a steal on the next possession giving UNBC the ball with under a minute to go, but they couldn't score.
On the next TRU possession Farinloye connected on a layup. (84-82 TRU). UNBC came up empty on their next try as Gillespie missed his attempt from deep, giving TRU possession again with 14.2 seconds left. Evan Smith hit both free-throws after he was fouled, making it a four-point lead (86-82) for the visitors.
Chirs Ainsley's layup attempt came up empty which resulted in a foul, and two successful free-throws from Steve Stinson.
Sunga hit a buzzer-beating three from way deep, but it wasn't enough as TRU held on for the 88-85 win.
Five WolfPack players reached double-digits in offence with Mayan leading the way with 17. Baukin led all scorers with 22 points while Ainsley set a new career-high in points with 17. 15 of those 17 points came from five successful threes for the second-year forward from Vancouver. Gillespie led the TWolves with 11 rebounds while Farinloye had nine for TRU.
TRU improved to 1-1.
The TWolves, who lost their season opener 91-71 to UBC-Okanagan Friday in Kelowna, will now look to snag their first win of the season on Friday night when they battle the Victoria Vikes (2-0) on the road.
