Considering the opponent, a 33-point loss in a university basketball game wasn’t that bad.
The Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Eagles fell 85-52 to the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades last Friday night at their Surrey campus. Members of PACWEST (Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference), the Eagles impressed coach Dan Nayebzadeh while playing against a team which won a bronze medal at the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sports) nationals last season.
“It was a good start to the preseason to be up against a tough CIS team,” said Nayebzadeh. “The ladies came out focused and executed early on, it was a great first half.”
Kwantlen trailed 23-14, 46-32 and 64-39 at the quarter breaks. Samantha Kelleigh, a second-year point guard from Washington, led the Eagles with 16 points. Christina Brown of Langley added 10 points while Fleetwood Park graduate Shilpa Khanna netted nine.
“We had some nice execution of offense at times, nice execution of defense at times. We have some areas that we will need to address,” said Nayebzadeh. “We fatigued as the game wore on and gave up a number of points from free throws, but overall it was a good game I’m really happy with how the team did.”
The Eagles will host PACWEST rivals Camosun Chargers for an exhibition game Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.