UCFV women dominate on the hardwood

The University College of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team continued to cruise on the weekend, as it improved its BCCAA leading record to 9-0 with blowout victories over Camosun and Malaspina. On Friday, the Cascades went to Victoria and destroyed Camosun by a score of 80-14 and followed that up with a victory over Malaspina in Nanaimo by a 70-29 count. The UCFV women are now riding a 27-game league winning streak dating back to the 2002 season, despite only playing two home games all season.

Coach Al Tuchscherer was pleased with his team’s performance, saying, “The past two weeks we have talked about how it’s time to elevate our game to the next level and the players followed through. You could see it all week in practice that we were ready to go. We played 40 minutes, started very strong, and didn't let down the second night.”

Tuchscherer adds that while the team is on a roll, there was a definite absence of excessive back-patting. “The most encouraging sign of the weekend for me was on Saturday night. When it was over there was absolutely no sign of accomplishment,” says Tuchscherer. “It was an attitude like we had just done what we are supposed to do, see you at practice on Monday. It was very encouraging.”

In both games, the bench players outscored the starters, a sign of the depth on Tuchscherer’s team. Against Camosun, five players made double figures, led by Estee Clifford who hit for 15 points and six boards. Against Malaspina, it was the return of Cassi Born, who led the team with 12 points in a well-rounded team effort. Point guard Kalisha Reid also had a strong weekend, notching 12 assists over the two games, in limited playing time.

While Tuchscherer acknowledges that these victories came over a winless Camosun squad and a disappointing team from Malaspina, he also realizes that the Cascades’ defence was overpowering. “Allowing 14 and 29 points against is impressive regardless of whom you play,” says Tuchscherer.

Next up for the Cascades are games at Douglas and Kwantlen this weekend before beginning a string of home games to finish out the season.

UCFV Men struggle
Despite riding high after a successful Christmas break that saw victory at the Abbotsford City Tournament, the UCFV men’s team struggled out of the gate against Camosun on the weekend and lost 69-57. Though they came back to defeat Malaspina 74-58 the next day, the loss knocked them into a second place tie in the BCCAA standings with Cariboo, who owns the tiebreaker with an earlier win over the Cascades.

- 30 -

Written by UCFV student, Ted Leavitt