The second game of the best-of-three opening-round sa国际传媒 West women鈥檚 basketball series goes tonight at 7 p.m. at CARSA. If the Spartans force a Game 3, it will be played Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
鈥淲e had something to lose, and prove, here in our own gym. And we did prove it,鈥� said Kristy Gallagher, whose outside shooting accounted for 20 UVic points.
The Spartans, making their first playoff appearance since 2009, were noticeably quicker than the larger Vikes, but UVic eventually wore them down with superior size and a superior inside-outside game.
鈥淲e were able to hit our outside shots, and our bigs inside played a huge role, also,鈥� said Gallagher, a Parkland Secondary graduate from Sidney.
鈥淭heir rebounding gave us possessions.鈥�
The Vikes led 26-18 after the first quarter before going cold from the field in the second quarter and heading into the break with only a 38-36 lead.
鈥淭rinity Western never stops fighting. This is a team that really digs,鈥� said Gallagher.
The tide turned on a 9-0 UVic run that made it 49-40 en route to a 63-51 lead at the end of the third quarter.
鈥淭he Spartans are a smart team and a tough team that plays aggressively. But we had good ball movement and pace,鈥� said Vikes coach Dani Sinclair.
Forward Jenna Bugiardini led UVic with 26 points and Amira Giannattasio scoring 14 and Nicole Karstein 13. Tessa Ratzlaff led the Spartans with 22 and Kayla Gordon scored 20.
The Vikes were 9-11 in the regular season for fifth in the conference and Trinity Western 8-12 for seventh. The Vikes and Spartans split the season series 1-1.
The winner of the series advances to play MacEwan University next weekend in Edmonton.
