Lethbridge - The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, winners of the Canada West title from 2006-2011, claimed their 11^th consecutive conference top three finish when they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 60-7 on Sunday morning in the third-place match of the Canada West championship tournament at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton.

Five-time Canada West all-star Brandi Van Eeuwen led the ‘Horns in scoring with four tries, while Kim Leavitt had a pair. Lethbridge also got singles from Genevieve Ahart, Ashley Delaney, Emily Stearns and Sarah Gordon. Laura Murphy-Burke made good on four conversions, while Gordon also connected on a conversion.

Although it wasn’t the finish the Pronghorns wanted, 10-year head coach Neil Langevin was proud of his team’s efforts.

“No, it definitely wasn’t the match we wanted to be in, and to be honest I thought we were just a couple of plays short of being in the gold medal game, so to bounce back from that defeat and win was important for us. I told the girls after the semi-final loss to remember what it felt like, so to win today, I’m proud of how they responded. It was very important for us to send our fifth-year athletes out with a win, and we did that.”

The Thunderbirds, who put together a 1-3 regular season, got their lone try from freshman wing Ciara Malone, who also scored against Alberta in semis, while Catherine Ohler was good on her lone convert attempt.

The two teams struggled to generate much in the first half, as they tested each other’s defence but had to deal with injury and official’s stoppages that hurt the flow of the match.

After sparring their way back-and-forth throughout the midfield, Lethbridge finally broke through late in the opening half, scoring two tries and a convert to go up 12-0 at the break.

Van Eeuwen, a two-time CIS gold medalist, five-time Canada West champion, former All-Canadian, CIS Tournament All-Star and the 2008 CIS Rookie of the Year, broke the game wide open in the second half when she scored four tries in her final CIS game to pace the ‘Horns to the comfortable win.

UBC broke the shutout late in the second half when Malone sprinted right through the middle of the Lethbridge defence for the try, and Ohler hit the convert to make it a 60-7 final.