VICTORIA, B.C. -- The University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team was undone 86-81 on Oct. 25 at the CARSA Performance Gym by the Ryerson Rams in a tight pre-season affair. A 17-4 run from the Rams to finish the game reversed an eight-point Vikes lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
Kristy Gallagher totaled 21 points and three steals in 34 minutes of action for the Vikes in the loss. Jenna Bugiardini and Nicole Karstein each added 18 points, shooting 6-for-15 and 8-for-17, respectively.
 
Keneca Pingue-Giles led the charge for the Rams offensively for a team that finished with five scorers in double digits. The Rams scored 25 points off free throws and shot 53.3 per cent from the paint as a team in the first-half.
 
"We were sloppy with the ball and gave it away when they pressured us," said Vikes women's basketball head coach Dani Sinclair on her team, who committed 25 turnovers in the loss. "Obviously you want to win every game, but these games are good lessons for us moving forward."
 
The Vikes finished the first-half down by two at 43-41, erasing the Rams' largest lead of 11 in the first quarter. With just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Rams erased a 77-69 lead for the Vikes with a 17-4 run to come out on top 86-81 at the final whistle.
 
"Ryerson is a good team who could be in the CIS Top-5 this year," said Sinclair. "It gives you a good sense of where we need to be. That's why you play these games and hopefully you can work out some of the mistakes."
 
The Vikes' pre-season continues on Oct. 31 at 2:00 p.m. against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack at the CARSA Performance Gym before hosting the MacEwan Griffins on Nov. 1.

Game Summary:
            1    2    3    4    F
UVIC: 24   17  22  18  81
RYE:  25   18  21  22  86

Scoring Summary:
UVIC: K. Gallagher (21), J. Bugiardini (18), N. Karstein (18)
RYE: K. Pingue-Giles (22), S. Paska (17), S. Jez (15), M. Nunes (11), M. Sigurdson (10)