A comfortable-looking 12-point Victoria Vikes鈥� lead disappeared quicker than American competitive eater Joey (Jaws) Chestnut can devour a tray full of hot dogs.
The end result didn鈥檛 sit quite as well for Vikes鈥� associate coach Dani Sinclair 鈥� who could have used an antacid 鈥� as she watched a 24-12 advantage evaporate into a critical 64-54 loss to the rival UBC Thunderbirds at War Memorial gym on Friday night.
The defeat eliminates any thoughts of finishing second in the sa国际传媒 West鈥檚 highly competitive Pacific Division as the Vikes slip to 15-6, behind UBC鈥檚 17-4.
鈥淲e knew they were going to make a run,鈥� said Sinclair, whose team ends up travelling for the first round of playoffs next weekend. 鈥淲e had about a three-minute lapse where it felt like we stopped playing.
鈥淭hey picked up transition baskets and wide-open three-pointers and you鈥檙e not going to win games when you do that.鈥�
National junior team player Kris Young took over in the third quarter for the T-Birds, finishing with a game-high 22 while Stelly鈥檚 grad, Leigh Stansfield, had 19 in her last regular-season home game for UBC.
Jessica Renfrew 鈥� who had 10 in the first quarter 鈥� finished with 17 for the Vikes, as did Debbie Yeboah. Victoria was out-scored 52-30 from roughly midway through the second quarter, trailing 27-26 at the half and 45-37 after three quarters.
Victoria grabbed a 17-8 lead after the first quarter, with a strong 12-2 start to the game.
The two teams meet again today at 5 p.m. at McKinnon gym in the sixth-annual Shoot for the Cure event. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game in a fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
It will also mark the final home games for fifth-year UVic players Yeboah and Chelsea McMullen.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping they have good ones,鈥� Sinclair said of the graduating pair.
In men鈥檚 play, the Vikes stunned the No. 2-ranked T-Birds 91-86 in an impressive outing, handing UBC just its third loss of the season.
The 15-6 Vikes, who will play host to a playoff game next weekend, face UBC (18-3) again tonight at 7 p.m. at UVic. Fifth-years Michael Acheampong and Pierce Anderson will suit up in their final regular-season home games for Victoria.
Acheampong had 23 points on Friday, matched by Tommy Nixon鈥檚 23 for the T-Birds.
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