Box Score LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Spartan women earned their first home win of the season against the Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre, claiming the game 82-76. After tonight's game both Lethbridge and Trinity Western are tied at 3-3.
The Spartans win can be accredited to their three-point shooting percentage. Hitting 11-21, they totaled 52.4 percent and the Spartans set a third place team record, beating a previous record of 47.8 percent that was set on November 3, 2006.
TWU was led by Kayla Gordon (Prince George, B.C.) who had a team high of seven rebounds and 25 points. Teammates Natalie Carkner (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and Jessie Brown (Langley, B.C.) both hit five three-pointers to total 15 points each. Brown also gained three rebounds for the Spartans.
The Spartans had points from eight different players.
Kim Veldman led the visiting Pronghorns, earning a game high of 10 rebounds and a game high of 28 points. Allexia Barros earned 20 points for Lethbridge and Mariah Miller earned 17.
The Spartans shot 49.1 per cent, earning a slight edge over Lethbridge who shot 46.8 per cent. Lethbridge out-rebounded TWU 36-29.
"I thought we really showed well team wise. We got great contributions from a lot of different people, which is critical," coach Cheryl Jean-Paul said. "I think the most important thing for us is that we were able to recover from yesterday's game. I think we played the tempo that we wanted, and did things that we wanted to do to get a win. I'm really proud of the team. Obviously winning is nice, but more than anything I'm proud of the recovery. With such a young group, this is a big win for us."
The Spartans tallied the first points of the game and continued to keep the Pronghorns at a single basket, quickly driving their early lead up 22-2. It wasn't until the last few minutes of the quarter that Lethbridge earned some points, as they went on a nine point run before the quarter ended with the Spartans in front at 24-13.
The second quarter began with the Pronghorns being the lone scorers, moving their score up to 24-18 before TWU was able to gain another basket. With consecutive three-pointers made by each team, the score landed at 29-27 in the last minutes of the quarter. With a second left on the clock, Carkner hit one last three-pointer to end the half at 39-37.
The Pronghorns took the lead for the first time in the third quarter, getting a leg up above the Spartans at 43-41. The Spartans took back the lead at 55-53, however they weren't able to hold on long as Lethbridge challenged them, again gaining the lead. The quarter ended with the teams tied at 61-61.
TWU broke the tie, as Carkner came out with back-to-back three pointers, putting the Spartans up 68-62. The Spartans continued to put points on the board, as they led the Pronghorns by nine points at two minutes left in the game. The Spartans were able to hang onto their final lead taking the game 82-76.
The 'Horns will return home to host the Regina Cougars next weekend at the 1
st Choice Savings Centre.
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