LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. - The UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team battled their way back in the second half on Friday's electric battle against the Lethbridge Pronghorns, coming up just short in a 81-79 loss.

A Kyra Collier basket with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave her Pronghorns the lead for good as the secured their first win of the season. Collier, a third-year from Lethbridge, Alta, scored seven points while grabbing six rebounds and five steals in her team's home opener.

If basketball is a game runs, Friday's match was the epitome of just that. The Heat found an 11-0 run in the first quarter but the Pronghorns responded with a 12-0 run of their own in the second. With the game tied in the third, a 14-2 run helped Lethbridge open a doubled-digit lead, but an 11-point run, capped off by a Kelsey Falk buzzer beater, saw the Heat close the gap to a one-score game to close the quarter.

Falk, from Vernon, B.C., filled the score sheet with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals. It was another impressive outing for Falk, who is one of seven players in the conference averaging a double-double this season.

Her teammate, senior forward Jaeli Ibbetson, a Kelowna, B.C. product, led UBCO with 18 points while recording 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. Ibbetson lead the Heat with a game-high six assists.

Sofia Ainsa Lluch, a fifth-year import from Mahon, Spain, scored 12 points with seven rebounds and five assists in just 28 minutes before fouling out in the fourth.

TOP PERFORMERS

Lauren Foullong - UBCO Heat

Making her first career start, the Orangeville, Ont. native scored nine points, shooting 3-of-7 from deep. The third-year sharp-shooter has raised her game this season, leading her team in three pointers made through three games, while averaging 9.0 points, up from 4.6 per game last year.

Kamryn DeKlerk - Lethbridge Pronghorns

Making her debut for Lethbridge, the third-year transfer scored agame-high 27 points of 69 percent shooting. DeKlerk, from Rollyview, Alta., knocked down four-of-five shots from deep while securing three rebounds, three assists and three blocks. 

WHERE THEY SIT

Lethbridge's win is their first of the season and sees their record improve to 1-2 to open the 2023-24 season. The Heat fall to an equivalent 1-2 record.

UP NEXT

The Heat will get another crack at Pronghorns tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM from Lethbridge. Catch the action on Canadawest.tv.