The new semester comes upon us after what has felt like a truly never-ending winter. But with a new semester comes the return of our varsity sports! The news of the UFV Cascades men’s basketball team postponing their return against UBC Okanagan Heat continued last semester’s theme of disappointment. The matches were delayed due to the Heat not having the minimum number of players able to compete. No rescheduled dates have been set as yet.
The women’s basketball game was played as scheduled and swept the UBCO Heat with two victories over the weekend, 75-69 on Saturday and 66-48 on Sunday. The wins bring the Cascades to a strong 7-1 record.
The Cascades had a rough start Saturday evening. The two months without ball showed as the Cascades got outscored 16-22 in the first quarter. The Cascades forward Natalie Rathler and starting guard, Maddy Gobeil, ignited the game with two exceptional performances leading the Cascades to outscore the Heat in the latter three quarters. Rathler popped off a new career-high of 20 points, as well as eight rebounds and Gobeil dropped a double-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. The Cascades had a strong unit performance, with Julia Tuchscherer playing excellent and scoring 19 points, and Alexis Worrell rounded out the top scores with 12 points.
In Sunday’s game, the Cascades outscored the Heat in all four quarters. Gobeil added another double-double to her record, dropping 16 points and 13 rebounds to set the pace of the scoring. Rathler kept her scoring streak on high, scoring another 13 points Sunday. The Heat kept the scoring difference close with strong second and third quarters, but Victoria Jacobse ended the Heat’s dreams of a comeback in the fourth. Jacobse dropped 10 out of the Cascades’ 18 points of the quarter, ending the game with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Gobeil was named Canada West’s Women’s Basketball Player of the Week after her performance this weekend.
“It feels good to be able to come back after a couple of months without playing and win two games on the road,” Gobeil told The Cascade, “but I think these obstacles are just another challenge that our team has been prepping for the entire season last year.”
The women’s team only has a short period of rest before their next game against the first-place TWU Spartans on Jan. 13 at 6:00 p.m at the Langley Event Centre.
“I think it will be a good test for our team,” Gobeil said about the upcoming game.“We are just excited to get out and play.”
The Cascades men’s basketball team is scheduled to return to play against TWU later in the evening at 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 13. And volleyball returns on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, playing at home in Abbotsford fanless. In response to the Omicron variant, the upcoming home games will be held without fan attendance. The empty stands will remain through the men’s and women’s home games on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, with fans currently scheduled to return for February’s games.
Image: Gibi Saini / UFV Athletics
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.