LANGLEY, B.C. – The University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team split their opening series to begin their 2015 Canada West campaign after beating the Trinity Western Spartans 77-52 on Nov. 7 at the Langley Events Centre. Both teams are now 1-1 on the season.
BOX SCORE
After the Spartans earned an overtime win Friday, the Vikes responded in a big way Saturday, taking an early lead and maintaining control throughout on route to a convincing win. The Vikes were led by Amira Giannattasio and Nicole Karstein with 19 and 13 points respectively and Jenna Bugiardini with seven rebounds.
The Spartans closed the gap to just one point in the third quarter, 35-34, but the Vikes bounced right back and opened a 54-44 lead going to the fourth quarter. In the final frame, the Vikes poured it on, outscoring the Spartans 23-8.
The Spartans were led by Kayla Gordon, who had 12 points and six rebounds, while Jessie Brown and Tessa Ratzlaff had 10 points each. Collectively, the Spartans shot 34 per cent from the field while Victoria shot 46.7 per cent. Victoria was also five for 10 from 3-point range while TWU was just two for 12.
The first quarter saw a slow start for Trinity Western, but the Spartans were able to rally back to get within three points, 17-14, after 10 minutes. Ratzlaff was able to connect under the hoop and Luca Schmidt decidedly took the task of bringing up the energy levels to get the Spartans going late.
The Vikes pushed the pace in the second quarter and took a 35-27 lead at the break thanks to an 11-point first half from Giannattasio.
The Spartans gained momentum quickly in the first few minutes of the second half and lowered the gap to one point. However, the Vikes again responded and with Victoria going to the free throw line nine times in the quarter, connecting on six of them, the Vikes ended the quarter up by 10, at 54-44.
The Vikes dominated the fourth quarter as they pulled away for a 25-point win.
The Vikes return home to host Saskatchewan Nov. 13-14 for their first inaugural regular season games at the CARSA Performance Gym against the Saskatchewan Huskies.The Spartans are in the lower mainland next weekend on the road against the T-Birds in Vancouver Nov. 13-14.
Game Notes: Victoria out-rebounded the Spartans 40-30…the Vikes had 16 steals to TWU's five…the Spartans had 25 turnovers while Victoria had 19.
Game Summary:
1 2 3 4 F
UVIC: 17 18 19 23 77
TWU: 14 13 17 8 52
Scoring Summary:
UVIC: A. Giannattasio (19), N. Karstein (13), K. Gallagher (12)
TWU: K. Gordon (14), J. Brown (10), T. Ratzlaff (10)
