VICTORIA, B.C. – After a clean sweep of the Manitoba Bisons last weekend, Jan. 8-9, the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team travels to Edmonton, Alta. for a meet up with the Alberta Pandas at the Saville Sports Centre on Jan. 15-16. The Vikes are even with a 5-5 Canada West record and are fifth place in the Pioneer Division, while the CIS No. 8-ranked Pandas sit above the Vikes in third place with an 8-1 record.
 
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The Vikes enter this weekend after a sweep of the now 0-10 Bisons.. Fourth-year Vikes forward Jenna Bugiardini had back-to-back double-doubles, posting 28 points and 15 rebounds in Friday's win and 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Jan. 9 weekend finale. Second year and reigning Canada West Rookie of the Year Amira Giannattasio complimented fellow Hamilton, Ont. native Bugiardini with an offensive outburst of 27 points in Saturday's 86-75 win.
 
"We have to be happy with two wins from the past weekend and being able to continue building on the momentum we've gathered from the past few games," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair, whose team is undefeated in their last seven games including three holiday exhibition matches. "We are a relatively young team and we've had a few players who are in their first and second year step up and play big roles for us in the past month or so."
 
In their Jan. 9 win over Manitoba, all five Vikes starters posted double digits in scoring. It is a welcomed sight for Sinclair, who has come to expect leadership both on and off the court from fourth years Bugiardini, Nicole Karstein and Jenna Krug.
 
"Our fourth year girls had three years of being led by someone else and they have now come in and accepted those roles as leaders and are doing an excellent job for our younger players," said Sinclair of her veterans. "I think we are starting to see the benefits in both our veteran and younger players from that transition."
 
The Pandas line up as a strong perimeter shooting team thanks to the talents of veteran guards Jessilyn Fairbanks and Megan Wickstrom. The Pandas currently average 6.0 three pointers per game and shoot an average of 34.2 per cent from beyond the arc. While showing strength from distance, the Pandas are equally capable of limiting opportunities from three-point distance. This weekend's games will be Alberta's opening games for the 2016 portion of the season following a bye during the Jan. 8-9 weekend.
 
"They have decent size up front but I think their biggest strength is that they have a veteran back court that's led them so far this season," said Sinclair. "We will have to do a job defensively of containing the ball and limiting shots from the perimeter. Taking them out of their comfort zone in that respect is going to be important."
 
The Vikes women tip off at 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 15 and 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 16. Both games will be available for live streaming on pay-per-view at canadawest.tv, while free live stats are available at canadawest.org.