Dani Sinclair returned from a recent eastern excursion with a few items to check off on her team鈥檚 to-do list as it prepares for the sa国际传媒 West basketball regular season.
After an opening 84-66 loss to McGill at the Red Bird Classic in Montreal last weekend, the University of Victoria Vikes rebounded for 80-59 and 87-81 wins over Wilfrid Laurier and Thompson Rivers, respectively.
Rebounded is the key word of the week as the Vikes prepare to welcome the University of Western Ontario on Friday at 5 p.m. and Ryerson University on Sunday at 11 a.m. in exhibition play at the CARSA gym.
鈥淭his past weekend was really good for us, both on and off the court. We saw some things from people. Some players really stepped up,鈥� Sinclair said of the recent trip. 鈥淎 big question going into the season is who our point guard is going to be and Jenna Krug really solidified herself there.
鈥淔rom a team standpoint, some of the things that showed up was we really need to improve our rebounding,鈥� Sinclair added. 鈥淎gainst McGill, who will be ranked in the top three in the country, we were out-rebounded 43-14. They had one player who had 14 rebounds.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to go very deep if your starting lineup gets eight boards, total. That鈥檚 a huge thing we have to address and something we鈥檒l be working on a lot.鈥�
Sinclair also wasn鈥檛 tickled about giving up 80-plus points in two of the three games.
鈥淵ou want to be closer to 55 or 60,鈥� she stressed. 鈥淲e did win the two games and we are, relatively, a young team and a new team, with five players added and with everyone in different roles. It was a chance to grow as a team, for sure, and I have to be pleased with that.
鈥淲e were in the game with McGill. We just didn鈥檛 rebound the ball. I thought we out-played them in certain aspects, but overall it was a good weekend for us.鈥�
This weekend promises to be another good test as Ryerson is expected to be a top five team to start the season and Western Ontario always provides a feisty test.
Sinclair鈥檚 team has been led, with no surprise, by Jenna Bugiardini and Amira Giannattasio, each were sa国际传媒 West rookies of the year and CIS All-Rookie team selections in 2013 and 2015, respectively.
鈥淟ike I鈥檝e said about them all along, they come from winning programs,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 stand to lose and you need to surround yourself with people like that.鈥�
Bugiardini, a fourth-year student and a team captain, wants to see more team preparation as the regular season nears.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting exciting and getting pretty real. This weekend we have the two [games] and we鈥檙e getting into the flow of getting ready, playing, rest, recover 鈥� like regular routine,鈥� said Bugiardini.
鈥淲e have a lot of new kids with girls in new roles so they鈥檙e able to step up. I was happy with the results last weekend. I thought we played well together,鈥� she added. 鈥淢cGill is a top team in the country and we battled. We fought and we didn鈥檛 give in.
鈥淭hey were huge and we struggled with [rebounding] and I know that鈥檚 the focus this week. We鈥檙e smaller, but we still have to rebound the ball.鈥�
The Vikes will have two more exhibition games on Halloween weekend before the season tips off Nov. 6 at Trinity Western. To date, the Vikes are 3-1 in pre-season play.
FROM THE ARC: Victoria鈥檚 men鈥檚 team is 3-3 in pre-season and begins an eastern swing at Brock University today, McMaster Friday and Guelph on Saturday.
