sa国际传媒 West women鈥檚 basketball went Dickensian on Friday night in CARSA gym. It was a tale of two halves as the University of Victoria Vikes recorded a 77-71 sa国际传媒 West victory over the Trinity Western Spartans on Ken and Kathy Shields Court.
The Vikes saw a 21-point first-half lead 鈥� it was 19 at the half 鈥� whittled to just four points in the fourth quarter as the Spartans rallied with conviction.
UVic鈥檚 second-half cause wasn鈥檛 helped when star player Amira Giannattasio, who had 21 points, fouled out with 5:25 left in the game.
鈥淲e were dominant in the first half but then let up and let them get away in the second half,鈥� said the fifth-year standout from Hamilton, Ont.
鈥淲e know we鈥檙e a good offensive team, so defence is going to be key for us when we play them again [today in the back end of the two-game conference set].鈥�
It didn鈥檛 help the Spartans cause to be missing veteran sa国际传媒 West all-star Tessa Ratzlaff. The Vikes took advantage in the first half and then held off the second-half TWU onslaught as both teams are now 6-3 in conference.
鈥淥ur first half tonight was good but then we got away from that,鈥� said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair.
鈥淲e have played the Spartans enough times to know they are not going away.鈥�
The bench boss was not pleased in the least with the second half: 鈥淲e have to compete harder, share the ball better, defend better and not let them get so many offensive rebounds.鈥�
Shooting-guard Calli McMillan, who had 15 points on the night, left the game late while holding her hand. Aleah Ashlee also had 15 points for UVic and Haily Weaver 10. Katie Langdon hauled in 12 rebounds for UVic. Nicole Fransson of TWU led all scorers with 25 points.
MEN鈥橲 GAME: It is very difficult to beat a team that is hitting its three-point shots with lethal regularity. The UVic Vikes (3-6) rained a torrent of three-pointers down on the winless TWU Spartans (0-9), going 17-for-27, in a 96-66 sa国际传媒 West victory. Taylor Montgomery-Stinson hit four three-pointers on a 16-point night. Scott Kellum got in on the long-range bombardment and finished three-for-five from beyond the arc on a 15-point night. Jordan Charles hit three treys in leading UVic with 17 points.
鈥淲e were making simple plays and not making things complicated,鈥� said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp.
The UVic-TWU teams meet again tonight in CARSA gym with the women鈥檚 game at 5 p.m. and men鈥檚 at 7 p.m.
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