PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Despite getting off to a quick start on Friday night, the UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team wasn't able to maintain their high level of play as they fell 64-55 to the UNBC Timberwolves at the Charles Jago Northern Sports Centre.
The Heat, who were playing their first game in Prince George since in nearly seven years, came flying out of the gates as they took a 22-8 lead after the opening quarter.
However, the rest of the game belonged to the Timberwolves. UNBC took the lead at halftime thanks to a big second quarter and followed it up with another strong performance in the third.
Despite the Heat's best efforts, they could not close the gap as UNBC evened the season series between the two teams at one apiece.
Kelsey Falk of Vernon, B.C., led the Heat in the contest as she posted a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds, the 20
th of her career, leaving her just outside the Top 20 all-time in Canada West history.
Rookie
Tsuki Tsuzuki of Calgary continued her strong freshman campaign with a team-high 12 points.
UNBC's Russian duo of Sveta Boykova and Viktoriia Filatova, both from Moscow, were the top performers for the Timberwolves with Boykova posting a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds while Filatova led all scorers with 18 points off the bench.
With the loss, the Heat drop into a tie for fourth-place in the Pacific division with a 3-4 record while the Timberwolves move a game behind UBCO at 2-5.
The Heat will look to split the weekend and claim the season series when the two squads rematch on Saturday evening. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and the game can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv presented by BioSteel.
