VANCOUVER — Last season, during her debut at the helm of UBC Thunderbirds’ women’s basketball program, Isabel Ormond took what can only be described as an impressive first trip around the block with her young charges.
It was one of those journeys where everything they encountered — both good and bad — was grist for the mill of their intended trajectory.
There was an out-of-nowhere 17-3 conference record, there was the confirmation of what a healthy Mona Berlitz would mean in the post as a sort of second-coming of former national Rookie of the Year winner Kelsey Blair (2002), and there was a level of puzzling anonymity on the national scale which can only come from being shut out wire-to-wire in the U SPORTS national Top 10 rankings despite a 13-game in-conference win streak.
And of course there was the reality of a 66-63 loss to its traditional rivals, the Victoria Vikes, in the opening round of the Canada West tournament last February in Abbotsford, a loss which stands as a mute reminder of the fine line all concerned straddle over the long months of the Canada West campaign.
This week, however, as those very Vikes (3-1) jump a ferry for a pair of games Friday (5:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.) at historic War Memorial Gymnasium, how much more must these ‘Birds appreciate the kind of work needed to lift a program to the next level of contention?
The answer is obvious because that is the level of ascent Ormond and the Thunderbirds have taken in 2024-25, sitting at 4-0 in the conference and 10-1 overall with that lone loss a 73-71 overtime loss to Toronto Metropolitan in overtime.
Now, after their season of aforementioned anonymity, UBC finds itself at No. 3 in the national rankings, not only tops among Canada West teams, but lofty territory indeed when you consider that prior to the current campaign, Thunderbirds’ women’s basketball had not been ranked in the national Top 10 since they were No. 10 for the week of Nov. 13, 2018. That is six years ago to the day of this writing.
For Ormond, the former Alberta Pandas’ associate head coach, success has come not only through the depth of talent on the UBC roster, but in the ways in which roles have been accepted and big pictures viewed.
“We’re fortunate to have a group that recognizes our depth and recognizes our strengths,” Ormond said before practice Wednesday of a rotation which, for the most part, has sat at a tricky 12-to-14 deep.
“We’re also fortunate that they all recognize the different advantages that come from line-up changes and scout changes,” the head coach continued. “It’s not easy to do when you have a talented group, but for us, especially knowing we are hosting the U Sports Final 8 (March 13-16, Doug Mitchell Arena, War Memorial Gym), we need the players to be all in for our team culture.”
The 11-game sample size isn’t quite yet as representative, for comparison purposes, with last year’s 27-game numbers.
Yet positive trends abound from even the most basic sets of numbers.
UBC has pushed its overall rebounding margin from plus-4.5 to plus-7.5, and that is no small improvement.
They have also increased their shots and makes per game from a season ago, taking an average of plus-6.1 field goal attempts per game more than the opposition, and making plus-5.2 more field goal per game than their foes.
Those numbers, of course, are more like a general weather forecast.
More precisely, UBC is tracking more positively through not only the maturation of a huge returning class, but through the addition of key pieces to both its front and back courts in 6-foot-4, fifth-year post Jessica Clarke, the former Notre Dame Jugglers star who is coming off four seasons at Washington State, and 5-foot-10 pure freshman guard Keira Daly who has earned a major role coming out of Hamilton’s Cathedral High, the same school that produced UBC’s outstanding fifth-year senior linebacker Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown.
Clarke, who has battled injuries throughout her university years and is just five games into her UBC career, has put up per-minute numbers (7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds over 11.2 minutes per game) which speak to what her overall effectiveness could be once she gets more acclimated with the Thunderbirds’ schematic.
And with the third-year Berlitz (18.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 21.0 mpg) coming strong out of the gates alongside one of the country’s most versatile players in 5-foot-10 fourth-year guard Olivia Weekes (12.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 23.2 mpg), the only real question left unanswered are just how rich and varied the possibilities become once Berlitz and Clarke begin to log extended minutes together on the court.
“I am pretty excited about it,” admits Ormond of the pairing. “Jessica Clarke is someone taking a lot of additional defenders. Mona brings this grit and fight where she just refuses to lose and that is the mindset you need. So if you’re looking at line-ups that have Mona and Jess, or Liv (Weekes) and Mona, of any combo of these players, it will be pretty hard to offer support. And if it turns into more one-on-one defensive battles, I think that gives us a lot of advantage in our game.”
Yet their depth up front is enviable both for its versatility and experience with six-foot-plus holdovers Sofia Bergaman, Emilia Banman and Emily Martindale, who between them have 14 starts already this season, of coming from Martindale.
And Ormond is just as thrilled to add both Keira and her twin sister Nicole Daly, to the team’s backcourt rotation.
Keira Daly (14.6 ppg, 19.2 mpg) has been a huge spark early, coming off the bench in nine of her first 10 UBC games.
“I think for Keira and her sister Nicole, they bring such a competitive mindset into practice and games,” said Ormond. “And Keira is playing really poised for us.”
With veteran starters Weekes, Cerys Merton and Sarah Toneguzzi (31 combined starts through 11 games) the bedrock of the backcourt, and with Jade Huynh, Stella LaGrange, Maddy Billings and Nicole Daly all seeing floor time, a deep rotation is just beginning to settle in for the conference grind.
And all of it has come together in mid-November to create a classic Canada West women’s doubleheader at War Gym.
Of course, no one on either side Friday has forgotten about the emotions which centred around the Vikes’ stretch-drive win over the ‘Birds in the opening round at 2024 conference championships.
That’s why UBC’s star power will have to be at its best this weekend, and the same for Victoria’s, the latter led by its trio of 6-foot-4 fourth-year post Abigail Becker, 6-foot second-year guard Makenna Anderson and 6-foot fourth-year forward Mimi Sigue.
Ormond makes no bones about the fact team culture needs to carry the day in big moments for her team come Friday.
“Everybody has their role, everybody has their value to the group” she says. “They all contribute. Sometimes its going to be with more minutes on the floor, sometimes its going to be with what they do in practice and off the court for us. It’s a group that has each other’s backs and trusts each other in that process.
“Ultimately, that’s what makes it work.”
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
