Emmerson recorded 39 points and fifth-year guard Laura Dally added 28 as the No. 2-ranked Huskies defeated Sinclair鈥檚 Vikes 89-83 in Victoria鈥檚 sa国际传媒 West regular-season home opener.
鈥淚t can鈥檛 just be put on our posts. I thought we didn鈥檛 pressure the ball enough on the perimeter,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough job in there and we have to do a better job at pressuring the ball and siding the ball so we can take time off and get her out of the lane.
鈥淲e let her be at the front of the rim all night and we let their top scorers and best players beat us and we can鈥檛 do that.鈥�
Emmerson gave the Vikes fits, collecting 20 by the midway point with Dally adding 12 at the break, in which the visitors led 43-37. Amira Giannattasio had nine at that stage of the game and finished with a team-high 18. Nicole Karstein added 17 and Avery Snider collected 14.
An 8-0 run early in the third quarter by the Huskies was followed by a 7-0 stretch for the Vikes to keep it within four. But stubborn Saskatchewan rolled in another seven straight in the series of runs.
Karstein and Kristy Gallagher both fouled out late for the gutsy Vikes, who hung in till the end with the powerful Huskies.
鈥淚 thought what hurt us more was missed opportunities,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淭urnovers, missed shots, missed layups, just sloppiness. We take care of our own stuff at our own end and it's a different result.
鈥淵eah, we can鈥檛 let her score 39 points, but if we鈥檙e tighter in what we鈥檙e doing we could win that game anyway.鈥�
A good point as they head into Game 2 of the weekend set tonight at 5 p.m. The Vikes closed it to one point on four occasions in the fourth quarter.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously very well coached and any time it got close the ball got into Emmerson鈥檚 or Dally鈥檚 hands and they made plays. I thought we were reactive defensively and picked up fouls because of it,鈥� added Sinclair.
It was definitely an eye-opener for first-years Katie Langdon and Snider against the now 3-0 Huskies.
In the men鈥檚 late game, the Vikes jumped out to quick 9-2 and 14-8 leads on the No. 9 Huskies and never looked back in a lop-sided 83-58 win to improve to 3-0 on the young season.
Mack Roth led the way with 18, while Grant Sitton added 15. Brothers Jordan and Joshua Charles, of Duncan, added 13 and 12, respectively. Jauquin Bennett-Boir had 20 for 1-2 Saskatchewan.
The two teams meet again tonight at 7 at CARSA.
VIKES鈥� NOTES: Adam Ravenhill had the lone goal as the men鈥檚 soccer team lost 2-1 to McMaster on the consolation side of the 2015 CIS championship on Friday afternoon at York Stadium in Toronto. . . . In rugby play, the Vikes men remained unbeaten by defeating the Castaway Wanderers 29-20 at Centennial Stadium.
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