Nearing the end of the fourth quarter, the game between the UBC Thunderbirds women’s basketball team and the UBC Okanagan Heat was coming down to the wire. While the teams passed the lead back and forth, UBC was in the driver’s seat, up by one in the last minute. Then, with 52 seconds left, a foul call would seal their defeat. The Heat knocked down two free throws to take a one-point lead and they held onto it through the last seconds of the match. When the final whistle blew on Nov. 28, the Thunderbirds had fallen to UBCO for only the fourth time in school history, losing 68–67 to extend a three-game skid.
This was a classic sister-school rivalry game, but not the first of the season. UBC had hosted the Heat earlier this season, overpowering them in a 19-point win on Nov. 8. Fifth-year guard and veteran leader Olivia Weekes had a standout offensive performance, scoring a career-high 30 points to lead the ‘Birds to victory. This previous win over UBCO was nothing new for the T-Birds, as UBC has dominated almost every matchup against the Heat since UBCO joined Canada West in 2011.
The last time UBCO was able to beat UBC was all the way back in January of 2023. In that match, forward Jaeli Ibbetson led the Heat to victory, scoring a team-high 18 points. This time, however, Ibbetson would be on the other sideline. Transferring from UBCO to complete a master’s at UBC, she brings extra experience to the ‘Birds this year as a two-time Canada West All-Star with a penchant for attacking the boards. This game marked her homecoming, as this was her first matchup in her old gym.
Hailing from Kelowna, Ibbetson was UBCO’s homered hero for four seasons. In her last season with the Heat in 2023-24, Ibbetson was a dominating force, as she averaged 17.6 points per game and led Canada West in rebounds per game with 12.7. Ibbetson left quite the legacy at UBCO. In her four years in Kelowna, she set the program record for most points (353) and rebounds (253) in a season, while also recording the first triple-double in school history. To cap her final season, Ibbetson led UBCO to their first-ever playoff win, beating the University of Trinity Western Spartans after a solid season where they held a 11–9 record.
Last season — their first without Ibbetson — the Heat dropped to a 7–13 record. This season, however, things have been looking more promising for them, as they entered into their weekend matchup against the T-Birds holding a respectable 5–5 record. Looking to make it back to the playoffs, UBCO currently sits in fourth place in the division. While they have fared well against less dominant programs, they’ve struggled against tough competition, most recently dropping two games to the Spartans in Langley, who currently lead the Pacific Division.
Like the Heat, UBC had also just finished a tough weekend of road games against a tough opponent, taking on the defending national champions, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. They fell to the Huskies in two blowout games, losing 80–51 and 93–70. After having started the season strong by winning their first four games, the season has suddenly been on a downward trend for the Thunderbirds.
As they continued their road trip, UBC looked to break this new-found losing streak and set the tone early against UBCO. Early in the first, they succeeded. Taking the ball off the tip-off, the ‘Birds were first on the board as fourth-year guard Cerys Merton took it to the net — a nice change from their most recent game against Saskatchewan, where they went down 5–0 early.
Against UBCO, the Thunderbirds went on a substantial scoring run. In the back half of the opening quarter, Maddy Billings — who had just subbed in — found Weekes under the net, who put up the ball to bring the score to 22–10, which marked their highest-scoring first quarter of the year. Right after, Billings continued to make noise, as she drained a three-pointer to cap a 11–0 UBC run.
As the quarter ended, the T-Birds had strengthened their lead to 16 points with less than a minute left. While UBCO’s Kanani Coon brought UBCO’s deficit down, lighting up the Heat as she drove to the net quickly for the layup, making the and one, the first quarter still ended 27–14 for the Thunderbirds. It was a strong first quarter by UBC, as they shot over 50 per cent from the field. This was a much-needed improvement in offensive efficiency from their weekend against Saskatchewan.
However, it did not last for long. The second quarter was not as strong as the first for the Thunderbirds, because this time, it was the Heat who got off to a quick start, as they picked up their energy on offence. Second-year guard Tsuki Tsuzuki led the charge for the Heat, scoring every point in a 6-point run to start the quarter, helping the Heat close the gap to 27–20.
The ‘Birds showed some pushback two minutes into the quarter, as Brooke Wagner muscled her way to the net to get UBC’s first points of the frame. While the Thunderbirds had slowed down after their hot start to the game, Wagner, the rookie phenom, was keeping their lead alive. She went on a hot streak, scoring UBC’s first nine points of the quarter, most notably driving to the net for a reverse layup, drawing the foul for a three-point play to extend the T-Birds' lead back to ten points, being up 32–22.
Then, Tsuzuki punched back. Continuing her tear on offence, after knocking down another two free throws, Tsuzuki faked out Ibbetson to drive straight to the net for the layup, bringing UBCO’s deficit down to five points. While Tsuzuki and the Heat offence looked improved, the ‘Birds weren’t doing themselves any favours, getting into foul trouble. The Heat were in bonus for most of the second quarter, and unfortunately for UBC, they couldn’t miss from the line. In the second quarter they went 11 for 12 on their free throws.
After halftime, while UBC had held onto their lead at 43–37, the Heat had crawled their way back into contention, one free throw at a time. UBCO kept their momentum going, starting quickly on offence in the second half. After Tsuzuki brought the UBC lead down to three, the Heat moved the ball around until Lily Pink got a hold of it behind the arc. Pink saw that she had the green light, driving right to the net for the layup to make it a one-point game.
Right after, UBCO got possession back from UBC, but Stella LaGrange spoiled their attempt to take the lead with a massive block on Tsuzuki.
Fighting to stay in control, ‘Birds forward Cassie Joli-Coeur made a mid-range jumper to gain back a small lead for the T-Birds. It didn’t mean much. UBC was struggling on offence in a low-scoring third quarter, with only twelve points in total.
With the score close, UBC turned over the ball, as the Heat capitalized on second-chance points with their offensive boards. When Coon knocked down a three with four minutes left in the quarter, UBCO took the lead for the first time in the game, 53–51.
It had quickly become anyone’s game, with the Heat trying to build their lead, regaining possession and taking their time looking for options. The T-Birds finally clamped down. In a great defensive play, UBC shut down the lanes to force a shot clock violation, trailing by two. On the other end of the court, guard Sara Toneguzzi got the ball to Weekes in the paint to tie the game at 55 going into the fourth.
A game that had started with a strong lead for the Thunderbirds quickly turned into a nail-biter as the two squads entered the last 10 minutes. Keeping their momentum, UBCO once again started the scoring in the fourth quarter, with an inbound ball underneath the net to find Coon. She got the layup and drew the foul, and the three-point play took back the lead for the Heat, up 58–55.
Needing something on offence, Ibbetson intercepted a Heat pass and took it all the way to the net — but was unable to get it to go. UBCO snatched up the rebound as three T-Birds swarmed in to apply full-court pressure with a triple-teaming defence. However, this strategy backfired, as the Heat were able to pass the ball up with a clear opening on the other end of the court for the easy layup.
After leading by as many as 16, the ‘Birds were down by seven with eight minutes to go. They needed something. As Toneguzzi inbounded the ball to Weekes, UBC started to change the tide back in their favour. She was left with some space in the mid-range and went right up for the jumper to score UBC’s first points of the fourth quarter as they trailed 62–57.
Returning to her form from the previous UBCO game, Weekes was a powerhouse on the court, capping an 8–0 run for the T-Birds as she grabbed her own offensive board and took the ball right to the net. With her next score, she brought the T-Birds back into the lead by one, 63–62. Weekes scored eight of UBC’s twelve points in the fourth quarter, as she made a real difference to keep them in the game.
In the low-scoring final minutes, the teams played tentatively as the lead shifted back and forth. With less than three minutes remaining, Weekes knocked down her 16th point of the game as UBC took the most substantial lead in the last six minutes of the quarter, up 67–64.
Unfortunately for the T-Birds, it would be short-lived. Weekes fouled out with less than a minute left in the game, leaving the ‘Birds to play the final minute without one of their best offensive stars — while also putting the Heat on the line down only one. While UBCO’s Kiana Kaczur headed to the line for the first time in the game, it had been a familiar place for the Heat all match. She made both free throws for UBCO to take the lead, 68–67.
Needing a score, Toneguzzi took a shot that could have taken back the lead for the Thunderbirds, but it bounced off the front of the rim. As both teams scrambled for the loose ball, the jump ball went to UBCO. UBC called for a timeout — they were quickly running out of time.
With the game clock at only two seconds more than the shot clock, the Heat had possession and could run out the clock. Pink’s shot at the last second was no good, but it didn’t matter. With no time to even react to the rebound, the game had come to an end. It came right down to the wire, but UBC fell, 68–67.
In the end, it was a game of free throws, as both teams went to the line many times, with UBC shooting 17 for 27 and UBCO 21 for 28. The T-Birds’ high volume of fouls certainly did not help them, allowing UBCO to catch up, while taking out one of their leading offensive players in a critical moment.
While both teams gave up lots of fouls, they didn’t find the same level of success. T-Birds put the Heat into bonus early in the quarter multiple times, and had a lot less success from the line compared to UBCO. And ironically, a choice by UBC to foul on the Heat’s last possession to potentially get the ball with more time on the clock could have led to a different ending.
In a one-point game, every moment counts, and for the Thunderbirds, they just could not hold onto the lead, as the Heat earned a rare victory over their “big sister” team for the fourth time in their history.
For the T-Birds, following their third straight loss, they would play the Heat again the next day. Fortunately, they were successful in breaking this new-found losing streak as they earned a 64–50 win, splitting their weekend series against UBCO — their last games until the new year. They will return home to host their rivals, the University of Trinity Western Spartans, on Jan. 9 and 10.
