The Trinity Western Spartans continue to roll, picking up two more victories as they swept the UFV Cascades for the first time in nearly 10 years.
The Spartans women’s basketball team won both ends of a home-and-home series with UFV — something they had not done since November 2008 — improving to 10-2 on the Canada West season.
TWU won 66-57 on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre before taking down the Cascades 66-50 the following night at the Envision Athletic Centre in Abbotsford.
And it was the defence getting the job done, especially in the second game as they held UFV to 50 points, the lowest total the Spartans have surrendered in a game this season.
“It was really about making sure we were prepared to make a statement,” said TWU coach Cheryl Jean-Paul.
“If you think about what happens going into playoffs, if your shots aren’t dropping, you have to rely on defence. That’s not something our program has necessarily been known for and it’s something we’ve been working really hard towards.”
The Spartans held UFV to 17 first half points en route to winning 65-50.
Jessie Brown led the way with 18 points while Ashleigh Barnes came off the bench to chip in with 10. Kayla Gordon finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Thursday’s contest was much closer as the Spartans led by just four points after three quarters before ultimately winning by nine, 66-57.
Tessa Ratzlaff was the top scorer and rebounder for the Spartans with 16 points and 11 boards. She was one of four TWU starters to reach double figures as Sarah Buckingham had 16 points and six assists, while Gordon had 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists and Brown had 10 points.
The Spartans have six straight wins as they get set to host the Calgary Dinos on Jan. 12 and 13 at the LEC.
sports@langleytimes.com
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