High Pressure Heat Trap Bearcats

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

UBC Okanagan Heat 95 Columbia Bible College Bearcats 39 

Game Recap:
It would come as no surprise if the Bearcat players had difficulty sleeping last night. After nearly suffocating from the Heat's smothering defence, images of Melissa Irish, Bailey Radley, Jenna Kantz and company would likely have haunted their dreams. This nightmare would come to life again today as the Heat remained all over the Bearcats like a black cloud. The Heat's defence was so dominant, that at times the Bearcats must have felt like they were playing the entire Heat roster, as every where they turned they ran into a forest of blue jerseys.

The Bearcats did get off to a better start than the day before, as they narrowed the score to 46-26 early in the third quarter, however it would be all Heat from this point onward. The difference in speed between the two teams was most apparent in the third, as Kantz flew by the entire Bearcats team several times to drop in lay-ups.

In the fourth, the Heat guards caught fire as Ashley Briker dropped in back-to-back 3-pointers followed soon after by another one from Allison Werner. With five minutes to go, and the score at 85-36 (the same as the final score from the night before) it appeared that the Heat would reach the 100-point mark for the first time this season. However, they would cool off a bit down the stretch, and Nikki Andres would bank in a 3 for the Bearcats with 5.1 seconds to play, putting the final score at to 95-39.

Last year's Rookie of the Year Rachelle Briscoe came off the bench both games and grabbed an impressive 16 rebounds in 21 minutes between the two. Here's what she had to say about heading into the winter break with a 7-0 record:

"We feel really confident heading into the break being the only undefeated team in the league, but we will have a big target on our backs in the second half. It feels good knowing that a lot of our remaining games will be in front of a home crowd, though."

Kantz was the Player of the Game putting up a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, plus 6 assists and 4 steals for one of the most impressive efforts of the season. Madison Kaneda was on fire again with 18 points on 7 for 11 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Werner and Briker also had good offensive games putting up 13 and 11 points respectively.

The Heat beat up the smaller Bearcats team on the boards again, as they teamed up for an unheard of 33 offensive rebounds, 3 more than the entire Bearcats team had in offensive and defensive boards combined. The Bearcats found no answer to the Heat's relentless press and were forced into turning the ball over an incredible 41 times. Combine that with the 39 they had last night, and it adds up to a turnover for every minute of basketball they played this weekend.

The Heat head into the winter break firmly in first place, and don't play again until January 15th when they head to Nanaimo to face their toughest challenge of the season, Vancouver Island University.