KAMLOOPS – A strong first quarter was enough to push the visiting Manitoba Bisons to victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's basketball team, 59-43, inside the TCC.
 
An 11-2 run - during which Autumn Agar and Emily Johnson combined for nine points - to end the first quarter gave the Bisons a lead they would never surrender on the night.
 
Senior Megan Rouault led the WolfPack offensively, finishing with a team-high 15 points along with six rebounds. Kelsey Cruz chipped in with eight points, while rookie Jara Saroya shot 50% from beyond-the-arc to finish with six points.
 
The Bisons were let by Agar who had a team-high 15 points and six rebounds. Brynn Endicott drained 11 points, shooting over 55 per cent from the field. Johnson, Mar Tomas Arbos and Lauren Bartlett all finished the night with eight points each.
 
The game got out to a slow start, with the teams combing for a total of 11 points in the first five minutes. TRU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but the Bisons came storming back with seven points in a row. From there Manitoba closed the first quarter in fashion to snag a 20-10 advantage. In her second to last game as a WolfPack athlete, Rouault led the first quarter with six points. Agar led the charge for Manitoba scoring seven points in the first frame.
 
The WolfPack kept things close in the second thanks to strong defense. On top of scoring 10 points in the quarter, the WolfPack picked up 18 rebounds to keep the Bisons to only 11 points. Four WolfPack athletes got on the board including a huge three-pointer from Jaya Saroya.
 
Coming out of the break, the game continued to be close. The Bisons started the half with two straight buckets but then the WolfPack slowly clawed their way back through another bucket from Rouault and another huge three-pointer from Saroya. The Bisons were strong in the paint, picking up 24 rebounds in the quarter.
 
Kelsey Cruz and Rouault came to life for the WolfPack in the final quarter, draining six points each but the Bisons kept pushing. Through the offence of Brynn Endicott, who scored six in the quarter, the Bisons were able to see out the game 59-43.