By Karen Aney (Staff Writer) – Email
UFV is filled with hints of our growing school: overfilled classrooms, capped waitlists, the proposed U-District, and so on. The growth is also reflected in the women’s basketball team, which has just completed a tremendous season. Unfortunately, their year was capped off with a 78-69 loss to Toronto on Saturday, March 12, at the CIS East Regional Tournament. However, the fact that the Cascades even reached that tournament has been unprecedented in the history of the program.
This year, the team has seen a huge amount of growth. Coach Al Tuchscherer cited the turnaround as occurring at the end of last year’s disappointing ending. “The turning point was at the end of last season…it ended with the players disappointed, but still pretty eager to work on their game.” Looking back at the season, his words ring true; while the road to Nationals was peppered with losses, some fairly key wins stand out. One of these wins is the defeat of TWU just before the holiday break. It gave them a 6-6 record in their Canada West games and ended the first half of the season on a high note. This kicked off a five-game winning streak, culminating with the 76-60 defeat of the University of Calgary Dinos.
After this streak, the team suffered six season losses, putting them in ninth place in their league standings. However, in early February, the Cascades beat Lethbridge 77-54 and 70-50, earning themselves a post-season berth to the playoffs. At the Canada West quarterfinal, they swept the University of Winnipeg, enabling them to progress to the Canada West ‘Final Four’. This was the first time in the history of the women’s basketball program that UFV made it to the Final Four – and while the wins were great, what makes it even better is that the program record was broken with such a young team.
Nine of the 11 players are in their first or second year with the Cascades. While the veteran players have obviously played key roles in the wins (fourth-year Tessa Klassen had high points in clinch games like the quarter-finals), the rookies have shone as well. First-year Sarah Wierks had high rebounds in 22 of 30 season/playoff games, and high points in a number of others. Her sister, second-year Nicole Wierks, holds the majority of the high rebound stats that Sarah doesn’t, marking them both valuable under the basket. When asked to comment on the efficacy of playing with her sister, she explained, “I wouldn’t say it’s completely different on the court then playing with a regular teammate.” This is a strong testament to the bonds formed among the team and their coaching staff.
With a program so young, this season obviously ends in heartache, but also optimism. “Just being in Nationals was a great experience because it will only help us get a better understanding on what preparation is required in order to succeed in the years to come,” Sarah Wierks said. Tuchscherer agreed that the team had enormous potential. “Moving forward, we’re such a young team. This is the start of something great,” he said. It sure seems that way.
