Although the UBC women’s basketball team ended the regular season on top of the conference, their quarterfinals game was no easy matchup. In fact, against the No. 8 University of Alberta Pandas, it went down to the wire.
In the last 30 seconds of the game, the favoured T-Birds only led by two, up 69–67. The Pandas were one shot away from potentially sending the game to overtime, and they had the ball. But with a sharp defensive move, fifth-year Olivia Weekes stole the ball as Alberta tried to inbound it in, eventually cashing in that key possession, with UBC making it to the line to score, going up four.
In the final moments, both teams switched possession, keeping it close. After the Pandas missed a layup, however, the T-Birds’ fifth-year forward Jaeli Ibbetson extended their lead to six with under five seconds left, securing the win for UBC 75–69 in a nail-biter.
“Everyone's coming in 0–0 [on] their season. It doesn’t really matter where you stand. Everyone's fighting to keep playing,” said fifth-year Sara Toneguzzi. “We had to dig deep.”
While the Canada West playoffs were just kicking off for the Thunderbirds, the Pandas had already fought their way through one game to get to the quarterfinal round. Facing the University of Victoria Vikes, they powered through to a 64–55 win propelled by a strong second half, outscoring the Vikes 41–23 in the final 20 minutes. Although Pandas went into UBC as the eighth seeded team in Canada West, they are still a force to be reckoned with. While they ended their season fourth in the Prairie Division, their 15–5 record would have been good enough for second in UBC’s division, the Pacific.
But Alberta faced a tough matchup with the T-Birds. After a strong second half of the season where the Thunderbirds won 11 straight games, UBC ended as the number one seed in the Pacific Division and, by extension, Canada West overall. As such, UBC earned the honour of hosting every game throughout the playoffs.
“I've never even gotten to play at home in a playoff game ever,” said Ibbetson. “Even getting the number one seed felt so special and surreal.”
Even as a higher seed UBC still had lots to prove. In part due to the lack of competition in the Pacific Division, the T-Birds were ranked only eighth nationally heading into this game, with Alberta above them in sixth, despite having an inferior record.
As all postseason games are single elimination, the T-Birds would need to be at their best and bring their A-game to keep their season alive. While UBC’s ultimate goal will be to return to the Final 8 this year, that journey would need to start against the Pandas.
Right off the tip off, it was clear that ousting Alberta would be a tough task, as both teams are highly skilled and intense. Alberta sent a strong message with their first points, as fifth-year guard Morgan Harris muscled her way to the net for the layup. Even facing contact, she made the basket and with the foul, turned it into a three-point play for the Pandas. UBC’s defence was sticking right to them — as they have consistently all season with their high press — but they needed to find balance between playing tight and avoiding fouls.
They found some balance quickly, as soon after being fouled, their fierce defence helped them get possession as fourth-year guard Cerys Merton stole the ball back from the Pandas after earning UBC’s first point from the line. From there, rookie Brooke Wagner got the ball in the post and while trying to connect, was fouled. The T–Birds were back at the line for the second time in the game, where Wagner made the first but missed the second. However, after the miss, Weekes was there to grab the offensive board and keep it in play for UBC. After another missed shot and rebound by Weekes she was able to tip it in and give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game, 4–3.
UBC continued to build momentum as they extended their lead in the first half. Their defence again led the way, with their physicality setting the tone and forcing turnovers. Soon after scoring to put the T-Birds up, Weekes made a block to disrupt Alberta’s offence.
With their defence giving them more chances, they were cashing them in on the other side of the ball as well. Jade Huynh — having just subbed in — brought more energy to the T-Birds, hitting a major three in movement to push the lead to six. That cycle of good defence leading to points the other way continued. Immediately after Huynh’s three, Weekes — again being aggressive on defence — got another steal for UBC and immediately headed to the net. Although they again struggled to connect right away, they kept at it until Weekes put it in for UBC to lead 13–5.
As it can easily happen in basketball, however, the narrative quickly flipped. Despite their early lead, the Thunderbirds fell out of their rhythm and Alberta took control. With some turnovers from the ‘Birds and a string of baskets for the Pandas, they quickly closed the gap. Capping a 11–2 run, fifth-year Alberta guard Jayden Tanner drove straight to the net to make the layup, as the Pandas tied it up at 16. While UBC had seemed in control early on, it was instead the beginning of a highly competitive game. The first quarter ended 17–16, with the T-Birds holding the slight edge.
“We knew this game was going to be a game of runs,” said Toneguzzi. “We knew that they were going to go on some, we were going to go on some.”
To start the second quarter, Alberta wasted no time in taking back the lead for the first time since the start of the game. With back-to-back decisive moves to the net, the Pandas jumped the ‘Birds to lead 20–17.
That lead didn’t last. UBC stuck right with the Pandas, with an Alberta turnover giving Toneguzzi an opportunity, wasting no time to head down the court for a fastbreak layup. Neither team could hold onto the lead for very long in the second quarter. At least, until the last few minutes.
In the end of the half, UBC started making some small but costly mistakes. Down three with three minutes left in the second, Weekes, while running back on defence, perfectly timed her break to grab an Alberta pass mid-air — but a miscommunication heading back on offence caused a turnover right after. A T-Birds scoring chance turned into two for the Pandas.
As the Pandas’ defence got in their face, the Thunderbirds started to get frazzled, with more frantic ball movement. Alberta wasted no time capitalizing on this. Rookie Mishynn Miller, who had already racked up 10 points in the half, got a jumper for Alberta to go up seven. Right after, another Panda joined her in double-digits as Tanner sank a three-pointer shot. Alberta had completely taken control of possession, the pace and the game, and in a game that UBC had led four minutes earlier, the second quarter ended with them trailing 41–30.
“We were allowing them to play their style, not our style,” said head coach Dave Taylor.
After falling victim to another massive Alberta run — this time, 14–2 — the T-Birds had lots to talk about during halftime. A relatively close game was turning into a potential blowout. UBC’s mistakes were costing them, as the Thunderbirds were outscored 25–13 in the second quarter.
“When we gave up 25 in the second quarter, it hurt us. We weren't playing connected defence,” said Taylor. “We're on our best all five. So we get steals away from the ball because we're in the right position.”
Both teams came into this game with tough defences — and they lived up to their reputation, getting steals and forcing turnovers. This is something the Thunderbirds have done all season, averaging 12.6 steals per game — but against Alberta, the T-Birds were not capitalizing on these moments as they usually do. In the first half they only had eight points off turnovers, where Alberta had over double that — scoring 20.
“It seemed like Alberta wanted it more. They were working harder and it felt like we weren’t really playing like ourselves,” said Ibbetson. “The mindset was really just to do our thing, be ourselves, and try and work the hardest out there.”
“A lot of the things that were happening were in our control,” said Toneguzzi. “So we had to take it one possession at a time, get some stops, and then get our offence going.”
With 20 minutes to stave off the upset and keep their season alive, UBC seemed to start off on the right foot in the second half as Wagner got the Thunderbirds some early points. Weekes then came through again on defence, grabbing a steal to continue to chip away at UBC’s deficit. On a breakaway, she missed the basket initially — but wouldn’t stop till she connected, grabbing the board and pushing through contact to get the layup to bring the ‘Birds within eight, 43–35.
“It was really like, [in] the first three minutes, [we said] ‘Let's come back, that's our chance,’” said Ibbetson. “We came into the third quarter wanting it really bad and working really hard.”
But their hot start fizzled out. The T-Birds’ rhythm eventually fell back out of tune as they struggled to stop the Pandas from getting to the net, while also struggling to connect themselves. While trying to muscle her way to the net, Weekes was called for a charge, giving the Pandas the ball. With under five minutes left in the third quarter Alberta had extended the lead, up 48–35. As UBC were called for another foul midway through the quarter to send the Pandas to the line, they took a timeout to regroup.
Once back on the court, the winds had shifted again,and the Thunderbirds returned to form — playing like the team they had started the game as and the team that earned the number one seed.
After both teams missed a few shots, it was Toneguzzi who sparked the team, stealing the ball as Alberta tried to inbound it. With a quick play, Ibbetson got up under the net, got the ball, made the basket and drew the foul for the three point play. Right after, the T-Birds fought hard to gain back possession, as Toneguzzi forced a jump ball that went UBC’s way. The timeout had been exactly what the Thunderbirds needed.
“He’s [Taylor] good at giving us bursts of energy and what we need in that moment,” said Toneguzzi. “I didn't think about what the score was, just kind of went out there, [try to] get a spark, [try to] get some energy.”
You could feel that the energy and momentum had picked up for the T-Birds with their speed, intensity and overall determination coming through in their play. Gunning for the homecourt win and a spot in the semifinals, UBC was prepared to battle until the end.
After scoring off the possession that Toneguzzi had bought for the T-Birds, Weekes got the ball yet again, fighting under the net surrounded by the Pandas, breaking free to score and draw the foul for yet another Thunderbird three-point play. They continued to close the gap as Ibbetson got the ball in the corner for a major three. War Memorial was thunderous, with cheers feeding off of and fuelling the T-Birds’energy as they continued their comeback, being down only 55–50 going into the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 13.
Entering the last 10 minutes of the match, the stakes were clear. With the game in reach for both squads, it was both teams’ last chance to earn the win and keep playing. UBC, hoping to complete their comeback, had lots of work to do — but their determination and will had them playing at their best. Weekes exemplified this, getting an early defensive shut down to earn possession. Off this turnover, Stella LaGrange earned UBC’s first points of the fourth quarter from the line to close the gap to one possession.
While they had caught up to the Pandas, UBC couldn’t let up. Before they could even the score, the Thunderbirds started to stumble again, as Harris stole the ball for Alberta and made an easy layup to strengthen their lead again 60–54. With a couple of back-to-back turnovers the UBC was once again in a tight spot, down by eight points. As time dwindled down, they needed to find their intensity and fire from the first quarter and the end of the third.
This time, it was Toneguzzi who gave them momentum. Getting the ball at the top of the arc, she took a pause and nailed the open three pointer. This shot just added to what had been a strong game for her, helping lead her team offensively and defensively. She wasn’t the only one who came through in crunch time. Weekes, a go-to scorer for this team — finishing the game with 21 points — was putting in the work on the other end of the court with another major defensive stop after Toneguzzi’s three. The last spark of the T-Bird’s offence near the end was Ibbetson — another veteran player. Taking the ball in the corner, Ibbetson made the jumper to give UBC the lead for the first time since the second quarter, up 63–62.
It was back to the nailbiter of a game it had started as. With so much on the line, both teams were locked into battle until the last second, with the possibility of anyone coming out on top. Toneguzzi, continuing to push, went for a jumper. When she missed, she hustled to grab the board and score, tying it up at 66.
With less than 30 seconds left and UBC in bonus, the game had come down to the wire. After points from the line by Wagner, Ibbetson and Weekes, Alberta took a timeout, as UBC was up 69–67. From there, Alberta would gain possession out of the break to hopefully reset and re-take the lead in the final moments. They couldn’t. With an exceptional steal off the inbound, Weekes foiled this play, draining valuable time.
“We can scout their plays all we want, but it comes down to reading it in the moment,” said Toneguzzi. “We do take a lot of pride in like, practicing and everyone knowing and being on the same page.”
Alberta elected to foul them right away to try and preserve enough time to tie, as Katie Hartman was sent to the line. With another clutch play for UBC, she made both free throws to put them up by more than one possession. Both teams traded fouls back and forth until 12.7 seconds remained on the clock. Under pressure, the Thunderbirds stayed disciplined on defence,stopping the Pandas’ layup attempt and not giving up a foul. Getting possession, Ibbetson put UBC up by six with less than five seconds left. Time had finally run out. The T-Birds had completed the comeback win 75–69.
With this win, UBC will continue their season, earning their spot in the Canada West semifinals. They were the only Pacific Division team to make it past the quarterfinals, with their win against Alberta keeping it from being an all- Prairie semifinals.
“We're really excited to go in the next round,” said Ibbetson. “Another week of grinding and getting back at it, and then hopefully another win next weekend.”
“As much as this win was great, we just got to keep going, kind of move on to the next,” said Toneguzzi. “It's a new team with new strengths and new weaknesses.”
Moving onto the next round, the T-Birds stay at home, continuing to host one seed. For their next challenge, they would face off against the University of Regina Cougars, who had beat the UBC Okanagan Heat in a blowout 74–48 win in their quarterfinal game.
Regina would be another tough matchup for the Thunderbirds, as the Cougars had finished second in the competitive Prairie Division, only behind the undefeated Saskatchewan Huskies. However, UBC may have a unique advantage. Regina is known very well by UBC’s coach, as Taylor was the head coach of the Cougars for 19 years before joining the Thunderbirds this past summer.
“They run some different stuff. They're obviously very, very good,” said Taylor. “The big thing though, is we've got to play our game. We're a really good team, if we play our style, [we] make teams adjust to us.”
With so much at stake, the T-Birds would have to dig deep once again to reach their goal of returning to the Canada West finals and then after that, the U Sports National Championship, Final 8.
“It's all about just getting to do the things we love again and again until we get to nationals,” said Toneguzzi. “We're excited to keep going.”
