Calgary, AB – The Mount Royal Cougars lost to the UNBC Timberwolves 51-49. Emily Kaehn led the way in scoring for the Timberwolves with 16, and Jen Bruce’s clutch performance left her with 15 points at the end of the game. Carrie Campbell added 13 points, and Danica Rybachuk scored 12 for the Cougars.

The first quarter of the game filled with fouls, and both teams started off a bit slow. Alicia Tan continued her outstanding season, and had an input on almost all of the 13 points the Cougars scored in the first quarter. Mount Royal played firm defence, and only held the Timberwolves to 5 points.

The pace in the second quarter picked up, and both teams had a fair number of chances as a result. Early on in the quarter UNBC was doing a better job of capitalizing on those chances, and brought the game back to within two points. Mount Royal would respond and widen that gap again. Nikki Golding capped this off with a buzzer-beater three-point basket. This gave the Cougars a 24-17 lead going into the half.

The third was once again back and forth play with both teams getting a number of opportunities. UNBC did a better job of taking advantage of their opportunities and went on a 10-0 run in the latter half of the quarter. This brought UNBC to within one point going into the fourth quarter.

Danica Rybachuk would respond for Mount Royal at the start of the fourth quarter with a jumper to extend the lead to three. Jen Bruce then tied the game and then moved the Timberwolves ahead by three with two consecutive three-pointers. This was part of a 12-0 run for UNBC to give them a nine-point lead. From there, UNBC was able to hold back the Cougars, did not allow them to regain the lead. Mount Royal eventually came to within one point, but it did not get any closer as they lost 51-49.

Mount Royal now holds a record of (2-19). The Timberwolves are now (5-16).

Mount Royal and UNBC will play their finals games of the season tomorrow night on Kenyon Court. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00pm.