The Winnipeg Wesmen saved their best for last.
The Wesmen women's basketball team outscored the UNBC Timberwolves 25-14 in the fourth quarter and came back to score a 67-59 non-conference victory on the opening day of the CJOB Shootout Friday night at the Duckworth Centre.
Newcomer
Missy May Valdez came off the bench and led the Wesmen with 14 points and four rebounds. The Las Vegas native scored six of those points in the fourth quarter as the Wesmen used a 13-3 run over two minutes and 11 seconds to take the lead for good. UNBC, which led or tied through the entirety of the first three quarters, had a 51-49 lead with 6:49 remaining before the Wesmen went on their run, which was punctuated by freshman
Avneet Kainth's floater in the lane with 5:14 to go.
Kainth finished with 10 points in her Duckworth Centre debut, shooting 4-for-4 from the field and making two fourth-quarter threes.
Raia Guinto added 13 points and another freshman, guard
Jennifer Edwards, led the team with five rebounds while scoring six points with three assists and two steals.
Viktoriia Filatova's game-high 22 points paced the Thunderwolves, and Yana Shupak had 15 off the bench.
The Wesmen made 23 of 27 from the free-throw line and shot 38 per cent from the field. UNBC was held to 4-for-20 from three and shot 39.6 per cent from the field. The Wesmen held a 42-25 edge in rebounds.
Winnipeg will take on Lakehead Saturday (5 p.m.) while UNBC gets Manitoba in the 7 p.m. game.
