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UFV Cascades basketball win three of four to open 2025

Women post pair of wins to improve to 9-3, men split games to move to 5-7 on season

The University of the Fraser Valley men's and women's basketball teams started off the new calendar year in a positive direction, taking three of four games in Abbotsford on Friday (Jan. 10) and Saturday (Jan. 11).

The women locked down the opposition defensively on both games, dispatching of the UNBC Timberwolves 51-40 on Friday and then defeating the TRU Wolfpack 67-32 on Saturday. The defensive domination is a continuing trend, as the Cascades beat the UBCO Heat 63-40 in the team's previous regular season game on Nov. 30.

All-star guard Maddy Gobeil collected 16 points and 15 rebounds on Friday, while Bernie Leda added nine points off the bench. Forward Esther Allison also recorded five blocks. Both teams shot under 30 per cent, but the Cascades outrebounded the Timberwolves 52-31 – including 16-8 on the offensive glass.

UFV's shooting was much improved on Saturday, as they cruised to a win over TRU with a shooting percentage of 43.1. They also held the Wolfpack to just 22.9 per cent shooting.

The Cascades again were excellent on the glass and outrebounded TRU 48-25. Leda scored a Canada West career-high 18 points and added seven rebounds, while Julia Tuchscherer contribtued with 13 points and eight boards. Leda said this weekend was a big step for her after what she said wasn't a great first half of the season personally.

"I feel like in the first half of the season I was really in my own head, and a goal for me in the second half is to just play free," she said. "I feel like that is what brought me success last season, just having fun with it and it's good. A big focus for the team right now is to be positive, and bring positive energy, and when I play like myself and I'm having fun I naturally kind of bring in some more positivity."

The women improve to 9-3 on the season and they sit in second place in the Pacific Division.

The men picked up a decisive 90-58 win over UNBC on Friday, but then fell 83-74 to TRU on Saturday.

Friday's game featured the return from injury for UFV's Chris Jackson and he led the team with 15 points in his first CW game in almost two years. Jackson suffered a knee injury at that time, but looked very effective in his season debut.

Jackson also collected 11 rebounds and two blocks. He said it was a memorable return to the floor.

"[Tonight] felt like a real out of body experience. I haven't felt that in a while, and it felt great just to play with the guys again. Loved it," he said. ""I never stopped working on a lot of stuff, and I had to prepare myself for the comeback. I just believe in myself and what I can do."

UFV shot 45.5 per cent from the field and held UNBC to just 29.4 per cent shooting in the win. The Timberwolves led after one, but the Cascades took over in the second quarter and carried that momentum to the win.

Saturday saw TRU go on an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to hand UFV a loss on home court.

The Wolfpack shot a red-hot 51.7 per cent and were led by a 25-point performance by Cyrus Harrison. Jackson again led the Cascades with 14 points, but the team shot just 39.7 per cent from the field. Points in the paint were also a big advantage for TRU, as they outscored UFV 42-30 in that aspect.

"It's a disappointing effort today, but you know some individual efforts were pretty good, so I don't want to downplay those, but I think there were some scenarios in the game where we had a pretty good first effort but it's the second effort we need," stated UFV head coach Joe Enevoldson.

The men finish the weekend at 5-7 and rank fourth in the Pacific.

The men and women next head to Vancouver for games against the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday (Jan. 17) and Saturday (Jan. 18). The teams return home to host the MacEwan Griffins on Jan. 24 and 25.

For more, visit gocascades.ca.



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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