VANCOUVER -- The second-ranked UBC women's basketball team (14-1, 11-0) is hosting three Ontario opponents over the holiday break in preparation for the second half of the CIS season.

Brock (Dec. 29, 7 p.m. 101.9 CiTR FM), Toronto (Dec. 30, 7 p.m.) and Laurentian (Dec. 31, 12 p.m.) will face the Thunderbirds at War Memorial Gymnasium with the fifth-ranked Badgers presenting the most intriguing matchup.

The St. Catharines, Ont., squad currently sits second in the OUA West at 9-1, trailing only top-ranked McMaster, whom they host Jan. 6 to re-open conference play. That same weekend in the Lower Mainland, the T-Birds and third-ranked SFU Clan will play a home-and-home, so both UBC and Brock are preparing for big games.

"It's really important to get some good competition over the break and these three games give us an opportunity to restart and get ready for the second term," said UBC head coach Deb Huband. "Brock has a really solid roster and is off to a great start, and even though Toronto and Laurentian have been up and down, they both have standout players and will present us with a strong challenge."

Senior guard Jodie Ebeling leads the charge for a Brock team that has decent team size and can light it up from the outside. She is the top three-point shooter in the country with an impressive 64.9 per cent mark on 24 made and sits 11th in OUA scoring with 14.9 points per game. Teammate, fourth-year Becky Gallant, can also shoot from long range, averaging close to 40 per cent, while 6-foot-1 senior forward Milaina Lagzdins is the top threat in the post with 12.3 points per game and a 54.7 field-goal percentage that is fourth best in the OUA.

The Lady Vees and Varsity Blues are tied for third in the OUA East with 4-5 conference records. Fourth-year Cassandra Carpenter, a two-time All-Canadian, has made the transition from forward to guard seamlessly for Laurentian and sits second in OUA scoring and fifth in the nation with 19.9 points per game. She recently set the OUA single-game rebounding record (25) and is going after career OUA scoring and rebounding records. Six-foot sophomore Darrah Bumstead is third in OUA field-goal percentage at 58.1 and the squad has the fourth-highest ranked offence in the conference at 71.2 points per game. But it's on the defensive end where Laurentian has been let down, residing in last place in the OUA with a 79.3 points against average.

Sophomore guard Alaine Hutton, a CIS All-Rookie Team member, has come on strong of late for the Blues and currently sits 12th in the OUA with 14.4 points per game. Fourth-year forward Christine Cho, 11th in field-goal percentage, is the player to watch in the post at 6-foot-2. Like Laurentian, Toronto's offence has been productive at 71.1 points per game (fifth) but defensively they are close to the bottom, allowing 68.9 per contest.

For the Thunderbirds, a conference-opening 61-59 home win over Simon Fraser highlighted the first half, and a convincing 67-53 victory over Victoria on Dec. 2 capped off an improved final month for the squad which struggled at times to getting rolling offensively.

Familiar faces have led the attack with Erica McGuinness (17.7 ppg) and Kelsey Blair (17.6) sitting fourth and fifth in Canada West scoring and 10th and 11th nationally. Blair is also second in conference rebounding with 9.6 per game and second in field-goal percentage (59.9). Point guard Cait Haggarty is putting together a fine campaign with 5.6 assists per game and an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.8-to-1. In her last four games, in fact, she's operated at an 8-to-1 clip with just three turnovers in her last 103 minutes of action. Forward Julie Little is 17th in Canada West scoring with 12.1 points per game.

Second-year forward Leanne Evans and rookie guards Devan Lisson and Megan Pinske also made strides as the bench is starting to round into form. As has been the program's hallmark in recent years, the defence was strong in the first half and made up for a lack of execution in a handful of games. UBC is tops in the conference having allowed just 57.1 points per game and is also first in rebounding margin (+8.8) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35-to-1).

"Our ability to win games despite the fact that we haven't reached our potential as a group was the most pleasing thing in the first half," said Huband. "We're continuing to work on our on-court chemistry and getting more people contributing and there are lots of good signs. Our starters have been solid and we're looking forward to getting more pieces into place because we'll need that added depth and versatility later in the