VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team moved into a first-place tie atop the Canada West's Pacific Division after defeating the Manitoba Bisons 62-45 in Vancouver on Saturday, November 23 to improve to 6-2. With the win, UBC completed a weekend sweep of visiting teams from Manitoba.

Fresh off the back of a confidence-boosting win against Winnipeg, UBC started strongly for the second night in a row edging the first quarter 12-7 and stifling the Manitoba offense, holding them to a field goal percentage of 25 percent. The night before, UBC had failed to record a single point from the bench unit, but Stephanie Bell ensured it was just a one-off by recording the 'Birds second bucket of the game.

Adrienne Parkin's layup to open the second quarter to make the score 14-7 in favour of the home team but the Bisons rallied for a 10-0 run, capped off by a Robyn Eyer three-pointer, over a span of nearly five minutes, which gave them a 17-14 advantage.

Unfortunately for Manitoba, UBC answered back by scoring the next 16 points in a run that bridged the second and third quarters.  UBC built on its lead before settling for a 42-32 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

The Thunderbirds' offence was flowing much better and the addition of substitutes Cherub Lum and Bell helped UBC to penetrate the key and find some open looks. Bell ended the half a flawless 4-4 from the floor.

UBC maintained control in the third quarter, and found most of their scoring down low. The Thunderbirds dominated the paint, out-scoring the visiting Bisons by a massive 48-16 on the night.

The fourth quarter continued in much the same fashion.  While a Vanessa DeVries foul shot closed the Thunderbirds' lead to 42-35 with 8:55 left in the fourth, UBC was able to put the game away, stretching its lead to a game-high of 19 points with five minutes to go. The comfortable margin between the two saw head coach Deb Huband allow some of her key players a bit of extra rest before next weekend, Kris Young and Harleen Sidhu were only required for 30 minutes each tonight, down on their season averages of 35-plus.

Sheree Carmona-Galdamez led the Bisons in scoring, grabbing 13 points and was the only member of her team to score in the double-digits. UBC did a great job limiting them defensively; Manitoba shot 25.5% for the night.

Harleen Sidhu led the Thunderbirds in points (21) and rebounds (nine), just missing out on her fifth double-double of the season.

UBC's next games will determine which team will head into the winter break in first place in the Pacific Division. The Thunderbirds will travel to Abbotsford to take on the Fraser Valley Cascades next weekend in their last two games of the calendar year.

Manitoba (3-5) will travel to Saskatoon for a two-game series against Saskatchewan next weekend.