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This weekend the Women’s Basketball team took to the floor vs the veteran team from NAIT. Going into this weekend the Thunder were looking to continue their success before the Christmas break. As the game got started it was the Ooks who jumped out to an early lead. But the Thunder did not back down, staying close to the Ooks and matching them point for point. “The Ooks have a lot of experience and depth. They have all been playing together for a long time. We knew we had to match their intensity and be able to handle their aggravating defense,“ stated Coach Valpreda. In the first half, the Thunder did an exceptional job of holding the Ooks to only 28pts and were down just 28-17 to begin the third quarter. Even with the Thunder having trouble from the field, they managed to play tough defense against NAIT. As the second half started, the Thunder continued to battle for every possession with solid defensive rotations. Where the Ooks took advantage were in the costly mistakes the young Thunder team made. The Thunder could not capitalize on offense turning the ball over 36 times. “It's very frustrating; we hurt ourselves tonight. We couldn’t take advantage of our defense and how we battled to get stops. We literally gave it right back to them. Against a veteran team like that, they will take advantage of those opportunities and score.“ In the end, the Ooks cruised to the 70-47 victory. Player of the Game went to Nakita Newman with 10 pts.
Saturday night the Thunder were playing the last home game of 2015 back in the 'Thunder Dome'.  Once again, the Ooks started off quickly with an early lead, but the Thunder kept their composure and matched the Ooks' pace. “We felt that in last night's game, we handed the Ooks that victory due to our turnovers. Tonight we wanted to battle, play our game and limit our turnovers to give us a chance on the offensive end.” Going into halftime, the Thunder were only down 33-25 limiting the Ooks to just 9 second quarter points.  At the start of the second half, the Thunder kept on pace, closing the Ooks lead to just 35-32.  “We did an excellent job to battle back against this 'seasoned' team. Our first year players Michaela Barkwell and Sofia Lucadello did a great job vs their 4th and 5th year players. They really stepped up.” Kudos to Thunder point guard Michaela Barkwell who had 8 pts, 5 rebounds and 2 assists against their experienced and quick guards. Unfortunately with age comes experience and the Ooks were able to take the lead and close out the game 80-59. "The Thunder did an exceptional job tonight as they played a very tough team. The Thunder's youth showed in the late stages of the game but it also showed how much better we're getting as a group."  Player of the Game went to Sofia Lucadello who had 13 pts, 3 rebounds and 1 block. The Thunder will take a well-deserved Christmas break and hope to come back into the New Year with a healthy and full roster.