Birds of Prey Don't Take Heat Well

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

UBC Okanagan Heat 90 Langara Falcons 51

Game Recap:
Friday was "90s Night" as neon colours were in vogue for four more hours, and bands such as the Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Fatboy Slim blared from the loudspeakers. The games committee in charge of organizing entertainment during breaks in games joined the festivities. With games such as "Name the 90s Tunes" and a giveaway for the best themed costume keeping the crowd busy, action cumulated with a 90s-theme dance off, with some interesting interpretations of "The Carlton" and "The Hammer Dance" and a real, live b-boy.

All of the neon may have blinded the Falcons a bit as they flew into Kelowna with the monumental task of taking on the UBC Okanagan Heat ahead of them. Early on in the game, the Falcons displayed some tough team defence and the Heat struggled to find their game. However, it wouldn't take long until they did, and then the flat-footed Falcons simply couldn't match the speed of the mighty Heat. Jenna Kantz, Bailey Radley, and Ashley Briker ran circles around the Langara team and Katie Woodman rattled off eight points in the first quarter, including two three-pointers. The Heat sped off to a quick 21-7 lead and never looked back, going up 55-28 at the half. This was thanks in part to some excellent defence, especially from Rachelle Briscoe, who had two back-to-back blocks late in the second quarter.

The third quarter brought more of the same as the Heat outscored the Falcons 21-12, thanks to some great inside moves by Meghan McGill and Katie Woodman. Their strong lead gave Coach Semeniuk the opportunity to rest her starters and give the rookies some playing time. Rookies Kiersten Schulhan, Allison Werner, Beth MacDonald and Briker played most of the fourth, shutting down the Falcons for a 90-51 victory.

Woodman was named Player of the Game on the strength of her 20 points and 3 steals. McGill had a strong game putting up 17 points to go with 6 rebounds (5 on the offensive glass), and Roz Huber also played well scoring 12 points on 6 for 8 shooting, with 6 assists and 2 blocked shots.

When pressed to comment on the game, Rachelle Briscoe noted: "Games like these are a great opportunity to get everyone involved. Rookies get a chance to see more minutes, and the ball gets shared around."

The rest of the team chimed in saying it's all about unity, which seems to be the mantra of the team. With the amount of success they've had sharing the ball and with the current depth of the team, it seems to be working.

The Heat defend their home court again versus the Langara Falcons. Tipoff is at Saturday at 4pm.