The Wildcats are headed to the championship game.
With their decisive 79-53 victory over the University of South Carolina Upstate, the Wildcats have earned a spot in the WBI Championship Game.
Getting to play in a championship game is a special experience limited to only a few teams each year. It takes a full team effort all through the season to get this point, and it takes a team that trusts each other on and off the court and wholeheartedly believes in their coaches and trainers.
“These are my babies, they truly are, they just care about and want it so bad for each other. It’s just family,” coach Bethann Ord said after the victory last night.
It was a challenging first quarter for Weber State as the offense was rigid and had trouble making shots. Freshman Emily Drake was the only Wildcat able to find the net, making both of her 3-pointers in the first quarter and leading all scorers with six points.
The Wildcats were behind for a majority of the quarter after USCU went on a 9-0 run. However, the Wildcats ended the quarter leading after Brittney Dunbar made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, giving Weber State a 19-17 lead.
The scoring leaders for the Wildcats were Deeshyra Thomas, who scored 20 points, and Drake and Dunbar, who each scored 17 points, followed by Kailie Quinn, “The Salt Lake City Sniper,” who picked up 12 points off of four made 3-pointers.
Like most of the games this season, everybody contributed and made an impact scoring.
“Its awesome because, the opposing team, they can’t just prepare for one or two people. They’ve got to prepare for the whole team,” Thomas said. “You never know who’s going to go off at any moment. I love playing for a team like that.”
This was the second consecutive game for the unofficial Thomas takeover, after she scored 30 points against North Dakota. She has a combined total of 50 points over the past two games heading into the championship.
Quinn was also the rebound leader for the game, picking up 10 rebounds and setting a new career high. This led to Quinn picking up her first career double-double.
Following Quinn was Drake, who grabbed seven rebounds of her own. Dunbar, who dished out seven assists in the win, led all other players on the team in assists.
Dunbar also lead the team in steals for the game, adding another three to her season total, giving her 106 steals on the season.
This was also the final game in the Dee Events Center for the team seniors Dunbar and Tinisha Toussaint. The crowd was loud as they came out and cheered on the Wildcats in the last home game of the season.
“It was amazing,” Dunbar said of the crowd at the game. “It was probably the best game of my two years here. The crowd was amazing and it was just really appreciated. If I had to pick a way to go out, that would be the way.”
This win gives Weber State 23 wins on the year setting a new school record for wins in a season, breaking the previous record of 22 wins set in 1983.
The WBI Championship Game will be played against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in Louisiana on Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. Mountain time.
