UNBC Basketball

TWolves ready for 2nd half of Canada West season to get underway

Jan 7, 2022 | 5:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The players have returned from the holiday break and the UNBC Timberwolves basketball teams are getting prepared for the rest of the season when it resumes January 14th against the Victoria Vikes.

For the women’s squad, the front half of the season was a mixed bag, and their 4-4 record is a product of that. A return to league play after a lengthy hiatus and the TWolves stormed out of the games to a 4-1 start, only to then lose three straight ahead of the holiday break.

With 10 games remaining in the schedule, the TWolves will be leaning on players like Alina Shakirova as they push to rank themselves as a top seed in the Canada West playoff picture. While the Russian ranks as the top scorer in Canada West and hopes to maintain that scoring touch, she also hopes to find some balance in her game in the hope it leads to more wins.

On the men’s side, the Timberwolves are on a four-game losing skid and carry a 2-6 record, having wrapped up the first half of the season with back-to-backs against the defending Canada West champs in UBC, and then USports 9th ranked Victoria. They’re scheduled to get the back half of the season against those very same teams with Victoria on the 14th and UBC on the 16th.

Head Coach Todd Jordan admits he’s excited about those games to kick off their backend of the schedule, hoping to heighten his team’s level of competition ahead of two games against the Fraser Valley Cascades and three tilts against both the Trinity Western Spartans and UBC-Okanagan Heat.

Jordan believes the TWolves are right there in a hunt for 3rd place in the West Division.

The Twolves will take the court inside the Northern Sport Centre on Friday, Jan. 14th against the Victoria Vikes with the women tipping off at 6:00 and the men to follow at 8:00 p.m. Then, on Sunday, Jan. 16th, the TWolves will play host to the UBC Thunderbirds for the third time this season. The women will play at 1:00 p.m. and the men will be at 3:00 p.m.