Box Score

Kamloops, BC—The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s basketball team have never had it so good. The WolfPack continue to establish school records as the 2012-13 Canada West season rolls along.

TRU captured their ninth victory of the season as they beat the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 78-51 at the TRU gym on Friday night (Jan 11). The WolfPack are now 9 and 3 on the season and
moves into second spot alone in the Pacific Division while Lethbridge falls to 5 and 6—good enough for fourth spot in the Prairie Division.

“They were a quality team and you can’t just look at the end result,” said WolfPack head coach Scott Reeves. “It is how you get to the end result. Our offensive rebounding and communication on defence took away what they wanted to do. That made them take tough shots instead of easy shots. I thought our defence came through.”

The WolfPack notched 21 offensive rebounds led by Diane Schuetze (5th year, post, Vernon, BC) with seven. She wound up with a team high 14 rebounds in the contest.

“I figured the more possessions we would get, the better chance we would have to score,” Reeves added.

Offensively, Thompson Rivers were led by Jen Ju (5th year, guard, Vancouver, BC) and Taiysa Worsfold (2nd year, forward, Kamloops, BC). Both had 21 points. Worsfold added eight rebounds—six on offense.

She had a number of key three pointers in the contest. Reeves says the TRU Gym is a familiar stomping ground’ for Worsfold: She was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonald’s “Leader of the Pack” player of the game.

The other TRU player in double figures was fifth year forward Tracy Kocs (Coquitlam, BC). She had 14 points and six rebounds.

“I think defensively, we didn’t come out ready to play in the first half,” said first-year Lethbridge head coach Erin McAleenan. “We allowed them to get some easy scores. When they have two penetrators,
it is hard to defend . In the second half, I thought we did some better things. They are a good team.”

Lethbridge was led by Kim Veldman (3rd year, forward, Lethbridge, AB) with 15 points and five rebounds. Ali Cameron (1st year, guard, Raymond, AB) had 13 points while Erin Skippon (5th year, forward,
Kelowna, BC) had eight boards and eight points.

McAleenan saw some positives from her club: “I thought we executed the ball very well. We didn’t get the finishes we wanted. I thought defensively, we were more physical in the second half.”

The Pronghorns head to Kelowna on Saturday (Jan 12) to play the UBC-O Heat. Tip off is set for 5 pm and the game will be webcast of www.canadawest.tv

DOUBLE DRIBBLES: McAleenan on the close confines of the TRU Gym: “I definitely thought it was a tough environment to play in. It’s a big advantage if you are the home team. The fans are really close and loud.  I thought we would have done better if our kids came out more focusedand had more energy. That would have quieted the fans.”

Reeves on playing at the Gym: a place where the WolfPack had trouble winning in their first few seasons in the CIS and how Lethbridge handled it. “This is not like any other gym in the league. Brandon’s old gym is the closest to this. All the gyms are the open field house type of set ups. It was a little intimidating for them.”