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VIDEO: Langley’s Trinity Western University Spartans make it eight wins in a row

Last loss in Canada West conference play by women’s basketball team was Feb. 7, 2020.
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Nicole Fransson and Kianna Wiens were standouts as Trinity Western Spartans extended their winning streak to a record eight in a row with Saturday night’s win over Thompson Rivers. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Langley’s Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans defeated Thompson Rivers University (TRU) 73-50 at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops on Saturday, Jan. 8, extending the women’s basketball team streak to eight consecutive victories.

It came a day after TWU made program history on Friday, achieving their best start to a season by defeating TRU 83-80.

Nicole Fransson was spectacular once again, shooting 11-16 from the field for 25 points and 14 rebounds. Fransson wasn’t the only Spartan to join the double-double club as Kianna Wiens put down 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds of her own.

After the Saturday win, TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul said it “says a lot about our ability to find a way to finish well even if other stretches of the game didn’t go as planned. I don’t think we were satisfied with blowing the lead we had yesterday, today’s game was a good response to that.

We had to figure it what it took to get that lead, and find a way to keep it. We’re going to focus a little more on our defensive rotations so we can force teams to make mistakes, rather than letting them hit big shots. That was the difference yesterday. Today, we forced turnovers and made them take bad shots, it’s a very different game when we play that way.

The first quarter saw Fransson got the Spartans going early, with six of TWU’s 17 points. The Spartans were able to keep the WolfPack at bay for the quarter, finishing with a 17-13 lead thanks to an outstanding quarter on the boards.

The second quarter was nearly identical to the first. With Fransson on the bench for a breather, Gracie Corneau stepped up to the plate on the defensive end, blocking shots and grabbing boards to keep TWU’s defensive efforts airtight. The first half ended with the Spartans outrebounding the WolfPack 33-15. The first half of action resulted in a 31-24 lead in favour of the Spartans.

Spartans came out of the gates hot to begin the third quarter, riding some solid shooting from Kianna Wiens who broke out with four quick points. Wiens orchestrated multiple offensive possessions for the Spartans to bring their lead to 17 points. The quarter ended with the Spartans claiming a significant 55-32 lead.

The weekend series against TRU ended with TWU’s second unit carrying the offensive momentum.

TWU’s last loss in Canada West conference play was Feb. 7, 2020.

Up next, Spartans return home to the Langley Events Centre to take on Fraser Valley (Jan. 13) and TRU (Jan. 15).

READ ALSO: VIDEO: TWU women’s Spartans win ninth CW soccer championship

READ ALSO: Langley’s Trinity Western University hockey teams make U Sports debut


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