VICTORIA – There are only four games left in the regular season for the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team, who are currently in a three-way tie for the top of the Pacific Division. The Vikes are 13-5 along with Fraser Valley and UBC, while Alberta, Regina and Saskatchewan all boast 16-2 records to top the Prairie Division. This weekend, Feb. 7-8, the Vikes host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack for back-to-back games at McKinnon Gym's Ken and Kathy Shields Court.
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The competitive nature that is the Canada West women's basketball conference will get heated this weekend as all teams are making their final push for the post-season. The top four of each division will cross-over for the best-of-three quarter-final series, where the winners will move on to the Final Four. With wins this weekend the Vikes will be one step closer to hosting rights for the first playoff round.
Last weekend, Jan. 31-Feb.1, the Vikes women extended their win streak to six after defeating Calgary 58-54 and Lethbridge 65-58. Reigning Canada West Rookie of the Year
Jenna Bugiardini shot double digits on both nights, while
Jessica Renfrew led all scorers against Calgary with 22 points.
Fourth-year Vike Renfrew has been a consistent scoring leader for the Vikes, averaging 13.3 points per game to be ranked 11
th in the Canada West. Bugiardini is one slot back with an average of 13.1 points per game, while
Sarah Semeniuk is 14
th in the conference for rebounding. Point guard
Cassandra Goodis is the playmaker behind the Vikes offence, as the fourth year is currently second in the Canada West for assists with an average of 5.4 per game.
Fourth in the Pacific Division is the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, who are back six points from the leaders with a 10-8 record. The WolfPack are coming off a split weekend that saw them down Manitoba 72-59 before losing 79-68 to Winnipeg. Not to be underestimated, Thompson Rivers handed the current No. 3 Alberta Pandas one of two losses this season after a 67-58 upset on Nov. 2 in Kamloops.
The WolfPack can thank leading scorer Taiysa Worsfeld who leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.2 points per game. The third-year guard led in their most recent game against Winnipeg with 21 points, while team mate and fourt year Jorri Duxbury has been the other lethal hand. Duxbury had 26 points in the win over Manitoba and has started all 18 games of the season.
Thompson Rivers are led by head coach Scott Reeves, who is in his fourth season as head of the WolfPack.
The Vikes and WolfPack will clash twice this weekend, first on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m., which will also be a night dedicated to KidSport. The teams will duel again on Feb 8 at 5 p.m. Both games will be at McKinnon Gym and will be streamed with live web video and stats at
canadawest.tv.
Friday, Feb. 7 – KidSport Night
The Vikes are proud to be partnering with KidSport for the men's and women's basketball games on February 7th. Fans can participate in the KidSport 50/50 in the concourse and help give the gift of sport to kids in Victoria. KidSport is a national not-for-profit organization that helps remove financial barriers that prevent kids from playing sport by providing assistance for registration fees and sport equipment to children aged 18 and under. Through a confidential application process grants are given so they can play a season of sport. One of KidSport's primary goals is to support a network of 11 provincial/territorial KidSport chapters and 178 community KidSport chapters across Canada in their fundraising and sport activities. Since its creation in 1993, over 400,000 kids across the country have been given the chance to play sport through KidSport grants and sport introduction programming. The Vikes are proud to partner with KidSport.
