The UBC Okanagan Heat women’s basketball team split a hard-fought weekend series against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops, capping the weekend by clinching the 2025-26 women’s Presidents’ Cup despite dropping the Saturday rematch.
On Friday, January 9, the Heat dominated with an 85-41 rout at the TCC Gym. Tennyson McCarthy starred with a career-high 16 rebounds to go with 16 points for her first double-double of the season (second career), while Lily Pink added 15 points (including three three-pointers) and Kiana Kaczur chipped in 11 points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting from deep. UBCO exploded out of the gate, shooting 63% in the first quarter to build a 27-10 lead, and never looked back—outscoring TRU 26-5 in the fourth. Six Heat players reached double figures, and the team shot 44.9% overall while forcing turnovers that fueled transition. Olena Vasylenko led TRU with 8 points, and Morgan Eichenberger grabbed 7 rebounds in the loss.
Saturday’s January 10 matchup flipped the script as TRU surged in the second half for a 53-45 victory. The WolfPack jumped to an early 13-7 lead after holding UBCO to low shooting in the first quarter. The Heat responded with a 16-5 second-quarter run to take a 23-18 halftime advantage, but TRU roared back—outscoring UBCO 19-12 in the third (including a 17-5 spurt) and opening the fourth with 11 straight points. Sydney Vollrath paced the WolfPack with 17 points (8-for-8 from the line), while Olena Vasylenko added 13 (10 in the second half) and Hailey Merrigan set a career-high 14 rebounds. For UBCO, Stef Hart led with 13 points, Tennyson McCarthy posted another double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds), Kanani Coon scored 11 (two threes), and Lily Pink grabbed a season-high 13 boards.
The split ended UBCO’s 10-game win streak over TRU but secured the Presidents’ Cup for the Heat via tiebreaker (331-315 total points across soccer, basketball, and volleyball head-to-heads, both teams finishing 3-3-1). UBCO moved to 7-7 in Canada West, while TRU improved to 6-8.
