Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4
Home Games:

MBB: UBC (70) at MRU (77)

The University of British Columbia T Birds made an impressive introduction to the night after taking the tip off and throwing down a dunk for the first bucket of the night. 

Mount Royal pushed back against a confident UBC squad and finished the first quarter up by four. The T Birds kept a quick healthy rotation throughout the night and utilized fresh legs coming off the bench. 

Brian Wallack was a weapon on the floor tonight for British Columbia, throwing down four dunks uncontested before the first half was over. His individual performance was a driving factor behind the T Birds propelling themselves into the lead almost immediately after the start of the second quarter. Wallack led his team at the end of the night with 20 points, nine rebounds and two steals. 

Half time came quickly, with both squads putting up numerous shots and nearing the 40 mark. 

Sukhman Sandhu used his size to his advantage, pushing the Cougars back in the post and finding easy points under the rim. Sandhu had 11 points for UBC with nine rebounds under the rim.

The Cougars played a different kind of ball tonight, with Sam Barnie being a huge player on the perimeter for ball movement and as an outlet for both Kevointe Watts and Holt Tomie as they continued to be hard marked by the UBC defence. 

Even with the pressure, Tomie was able to add notable numbers to the stats sheet. He put up 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

But no one could touch Watts. He finished the night with a massive 28 points on 63 per cent shooting, with six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. 

"It was great man, feels good to bounce back like that," said Watts. "Smart plays win the game.you know, guys got to stick together."

The second half saw a lot of strong drives from the T Birds but they couldn't find the net against the defensive efforts coming from Mount Royal. Wallack puteight points in the fourth to close the gap the Cougars had begun to create. 

Mount Royal moves to 4-2, 0.667, and now hits the road for their final games of 2022 against the University of Victoria. The T Birds fall to 3-3, 0.500.

"We coming big time, we getting ready, we putting the pieces together, everything coming together man," said Watts. 

Catch the game live on Canada West TV. 

Go Cougars. 

Player of the game: Keivonte Watts



WBB: UBC (49) at MRU (51)

Back-to-back wins for MRU after taking down the Thunderbirds 51-49 Saturday night in Kenyon Court. 

The match-up saw a remarkably low scoring opening despite the high intensity on court, with neither team able to convert on offence. 

It started with a similar tone to Friday night for the Cougars, taking the tip off, but the first two minutes of play remained scoreless. Both MRU and UBC hit the floor with a strong man-to-man defensive structure and constantly doubling up at the arch.

Maddison Hooper was a major target for hard perimeter marking by the visitors after her explosive performance from three last night. 

Katie Hartman opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds at the eight minute mark with a three point shot, and strong defence by UBC preventing any real chance for the Cougars to return with all four shot attempts falling short. 

The second successful shot of the night didn't come until the six minute mark by UBC _, with the score sitting 5-1 for UBC half way through the first. The only point for MRU coming from Lalor on the free-throw line. 

Tanis Metcalfe's left hand finish against pressure tied the score at five before UBC's Olivia Weekes came back with one of their own. 

The T Birds and the Cougars started the heat up in the second half of the first, with MRU putting up nine in five minutes of play. 

Neither squad seemed to hold the ball, with passes sliding through hands on either end and 14 turnovers in the first 10 minutes. 

The first quarter finished with UBC up 12-10, MRU's Lalor and UBC's Hartman and Sara Toneguzzi leading scoring with three points each. 

Everyone had seemingly found a rhythm heading into the second quarter, with more precision with passing and clearer communication. Mount Royal took off and led the game 28-17 at the break, but it wasn't until the second half that the action truly started. 

MRU carried this momentum, dominating the play and 
refusing UBC any clear path to the rim, with the T Birds unable to score for four and a half minutes of play. 

This game was centred around a strong defence, on all areas of the court. UBC demonstrated last night they were able to capitalize from anywhere, and Mount Royal showed their utility from three, creating a high pressure, low scoring environment in the gym. 

The third quarter ended with the Cougars looking dominant, up 42-28 on the visitors, and holding superstar guard Toneguzzi to only nine after her 15 on Friday night. For MRU, Hooper was the controlling force on the court once again, hitting nearly a quarter of her teams' points. 

British Columbia hit a major comeback in the fourth after being down 14, and bringing the game within three. Unfortunately it wasn't enough against the Cougars' performance tonight. 

Lalor was named player of the game for Mount Royal tonight after finishing the night with nine points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block, saying "we just tightened up our defence, we took some great shots and we just really made sure we were rebounding aggressively the whole entire time. I think that was a big game changer for us."

She continued on to say  "we've been working super hard for this so getting this win, it's super big and we are just excited to keep going."

After tonight, UBC will drop to 4-2 on the season while MRU improves to 3-3. This was the team's final home game of 2022 before returning to Kenyon Court on January 6, 2023. They will play their final games before the break on the road against Victoria on December 2 and 3.

Catch the games live on Canada West TV.
Player of the game: Jamie Lalor


WHKY: UBC (0) at MRU (1)
 
The Mount Royal University Cougars shutout the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 1-0 at Flames Community Arena.
 
The Thunderbirds carried the energy over from Friday night's win but this time, MRU matched it. Both benches were loud with supportive cheers and banging sticks.
 
To be able to bounce back from the loss, the Cougars had no choice but to respond with equal levels of energy. Yet, neither side would give an edge and the scoreboard showed zeros after almost forty minutes of play.
 
The penalties started flowing with both teams looking for a competitive edge. Despite UBC and MRU both having powerplay chances including five-on-three opportunities, the defensive game was too strong.
 
Thunderbirds' head coach, Graham Thomas, was not afraid to rely on his star defender and captain, Rylind MacKinnon. MacKinnon logged heavy minutes and led her teams' strong defensive play.
 
Kaitlyn Ross and Elise Hugens continued their steady play in net for the Cougars and Thunderbirds, respectively. Each goaltender faced thirty shots.
 
Aliya Jomha was finally able to get Mount Royal on the board after the Cougars going goalless for 98 minutes, going back to Friday night. But Jomha wouldn't be denied and jammed it across the line to give MRU a 1-0 lead.
 
The difference-maker in this game was Kaitlyn Ross. She was tested multiple time by UBC but never wavered and led her team to a hard-fought win. Ross added to her incredible numbers and was MRU's best player today.
 
The Cougars will head to Langley for a couple of games against the TWU Spartans and the Thunderbirds will head home to Vancouver and host the Regina Cougars. Catch it live on Canada West TV.
 
Player of the game: Kaitlyn Ross



Away Games:

MHKY: MRU (3) at UBC (2)

MVB: MRU (3) at UFV (1)