After a very respectable pre-season, Dani Sinclair and the University of Victoria Vikes women鈥檚 basketball team hope the success carries through to the sa国际传媒 West regular season, which tips off tonight at 6 at Trinity Western.
After compiling a 5-3 log in exhibition play, Sinclair may be forced to start the 2015-16 campaign without emerging star Amira Giannattasio 鈥� last year鈥檚 sa国际传媒 West rookie of the year 鈥� as she is out day-to-day with an early injury.
Giannattasio and Jenna Bugiardini are two key pieces to the Vikes鈥� puzzle as the team looks to continue its successes from the last two years in which it finished 15-7 and 13-7 in conference play, last season finishing fourth in the conference Final 4.
They will not be alone, however, as Kristy Gallagher and Nicole Karstein take on bigger roles and fourth-year Jenna Krug also provides valuable experience.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a fairly young group so pre-season was valuable for us,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淲e had to solidify some roles. We have key returning players that have stepped up and taken on new roles and there are players who need that time to figure things out, out of high school.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been valuable for us and we鈥檙e looking forward to getting started,鈥� she added of her young corps. 鈥淎lthough they are young, they are experienced. They鈥檝e played at a high level and played a lot of basketball so expectations are high.
鈥淭he league is fairly open this year. In fact, the whole country is open. We want to continue to get better every day and not look too far ahead.鈥�
Sinclair also added several local recruits who will likely see some early action.
Avery Snider of Mark Isfeld stepped in and started for Giannattasio in pre-season the last two weeks with Brittani Yee of Vancouver and Oak Bay鈥檚 Morgan Roskelley playing some more minutes at guard.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing it by committee. Amira鈥檚 not really someone you can replace with one person,鈥� said Sinclair, who also brought in Marissa Dheensaw from Claremont, who will provide feistiness on defence, which Sinclair wants to see her team improve in.
鈥淪he gets in there,鈥� Sinclair said of Dheensaw. 鈥淪he has struggled with injuries herself so she hasn鈥檛 been able to practise every day. But because she competes so hard she makes things happen. She gets her hands on loose balls.
鈥淚f she鈥檚 anywhere close to the ball she鈥檚 winning those 50-50 plays. She rebounds and she鈥檚 a good defender. That鈥檚 the biggest gap for us. As a team, we are defensively not very strong right now and she can play a key role for us there.鈥�
Sinclair is hoping her team can shore up defensively and offensively get the ball into the hands of Bugiardini and Karstein.
The goal, as it is every year, is playoffs.
鈥淲e had a pretty decent finish last year, the best we鈥檝e had in a while. We have a lot of competitors on our team and all that鈥檚 on their mind is we take that next step,鈥� added Sinclair, whose team follows tonight鈥檚 game with a 5 p.m. start on Saturday.
The Vikes鈥� first home game is Nov. 13 against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
