The University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team split its final two games of the HoopFest Tournament in Edmonton, defeating the Concordia Stingers 78-75 on Saturday but dropping a 71-62 decision to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday.
On Saturday, Vikes head coach #Rich Chambers# picked up his first victory with the Vikes.
"We had the game won and they came back, but we found a way to win it," Chambers said. "It was a really good effort and a good gut check for the girls."
Against Concordia, Vikes forward #
Jessica Renfrew# (Victoria) led the Vikes with 19 points and #
Sarah Semeniuk# (Fruitvale, B.C.) added 16 points along with eight boards in a scrappy performance - she was especially effective in the fourth quarter. Freshman guard #
Jenny Lewis# (Fall River, N.S.), with 13 points, and forward #
Jordyn Newman# (White Rock, B.C.), with 12 points, also scored in double-digits for the Vikes.
#
Debbie Yeboah# chipped in with seven points and Chambers said she played strong defence, holding Stingers point guard
Kayla Barrett to 3-for-12 shooting.
Natasha Raposo paced Concordia with a game-high 19 points.
"I think this was really important for us, we needed to find a way to win," Chambers said. "We could have won yesterday and couldn't finish against Laurier, today we did."
The Vikes held a seven-point lead with four minutes to go, before Concordia drained three three-pointers to come back. With 1:40 remaining, the Vikes trailed by five points. A three-pointer from Lewis cut the lead to two, and then the Vikes pulled down a rebound and scored to pull within one. Then #
Cassandra Goodis# (Penticton, B.C.) went four-for-four to from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
"It was important for us as we still are not very good defensively, but we are finding a way to score and I thought it would be they other around," Chambers said.
Chambers added that freshman #
Shaylyn Crisp# (Victoria) was "solid again", netting six points and playing strong defence. She scored 31 points in three games on the weekend.
"All our young kids are doing a really good job," Chambers said..
Toronto's full court-pressure and scrappy play created problems for the Vikes on Sunday.
"It's a completely different style, Toronto is a good opponent for us to see if we can handle pressure," Chambers said, adding that the Varsity Blues also have a more experienced roster.
Crisp delivered another strong performance and led the Vikes with 11 points.
Jill Stratton led the Blues with 17.
"It was a crazy game," Chambers said. "We were down 16 at the half, we really came out flat."
Chambers said with three minutes remaining, the Vikes cut Toronto's lead to two points, but made "some critical errors with the ball" allowing Toronto to pull away with transition baskets and free-throw points.
"We did not execute with the ball and took four or five bad shots in a row," he said.
Yeboah was named as a tournament all-star. Chambers also said Semeiuk was strong throughout the tournament.
"And Shaylyn played great, she's going to be a great player," Chambers said. "She's such a good competitior."
The Vikes host the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at McKinnon Gymnasium.
