The University of Victoria Vikes basketball season has been a tale of two teams beyond the literal sense. The touted men’s squad, ranked No. 2 in the national U Sports top-10 poll, was leading the Trinity Western Spartans 42-21 at half-time before a large crowd at CARSA gym in a game that was in progress at press time.
In the earlier sa国际传媒 West women’s game Friday, UVic fell to 2-5 with a 73-70 loss to the TWU Spartans (5-2) after a Vikes three-point attempt at the buzzer went awry.
“We are not where we need to be right now,” said UVic head coach Carrie Watts.
“We are not consistent, and have to find that consistency, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
The latter must especially be irksome for the former national-team player who was known for her defensive tenacity for the UBC Thunderbirds and in representing sa国际传媒 at the 2006 FIBA World Cup and 2007 Rio Pan Am Games..
“We allowed 27 points in the fourth quarter. You are not going to win too many games doing that. We have to focus for 40 minutes, not 20,” said Watts.
“It’s about discipline on the ball. We lose focus sometimes.”
It’s a long season, however, with plenty of time to turn things.
“We have spirit and energy in practices and we have a belief that we can beat anybody,” said Watts. “But belief is one thing. Execution is another.”
The Vikes right now have one but not the other. It hasn’t helped that forward Abigail Becker, who commands the middle, has been out with injury.
UVic’s Ashlyn Day, the defending sa国际传媒 West scoring champion, is having another outstanding season. She entered the game with a 22.3 points-per-game average and scored 25 points Friday with Kate Johnson adding 17. Jayden Gill of the Spartans led all scorers with 30 points.
Although Day’s individual success is continuing, that’s only part of the equation for the Kelowna product.
“It’s all about the team,” she said. “We’re hungry to win and just have to keep pushing.”
The UVic-TWU sa国际传媒 West sets continue today in CARSA gym with the women’s game at 5 p.m. and men’s game at 7 p.m.
