Box Score VICTORIA – It took every last second for the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team to pull out a 72-71 victory over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds at the CARSA Performance Gym. Fourth year Nicole Karstein's buzzer-beating rebound shot was the game winner for the home side as both teams are now 6-9 in the Canada West standings. The Vikes sported their pink uniforms in support of tonight's 9^th Annual Shoot for the Cure event in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
 
BOX SCORE
 
The Vikes had an outstanding performance from fourth year Jenna Bugiardini who totalled 28 points and nine rebounds, while Karstein had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Amira Giannattasio added 16 points, while Jenna Krug had five points and five assists in the win. The Vikes out-scored the Thunderbirds 21-13 in the final quarter to complete the come-from-behind victory.
 
"It's kind of redemption from last year," said Karstein about the win. "We played the game together and we worked with each other. We worked hard. We hustled and we did everything we tried to do the past few weeks that we haven't been able to do. Finally it has come together when we needed it the most."
 
The Thunderbirds were led by senior Diana Lee whose five three pointers gave her a team-high 21 points, while Adrienne Parkin added 14 points and rookie Jessica Hanson totaled 13. The Thunderbirds were 9-for-23 from distance and shot 43 per cent from the field. They were out-rebounded 37-24 and had 25 points come from their bench.
 
Rivalry fueled a high pace first quarter as the Vikes started off with a 10-2 scoring streak thanks to the quick hands of Bugiardini and Giannattasio. The Thunderbirds took some time to find their scoring strides but shared scoring efforts had the visitors back within two after baskets from each of Hanson, Kara Spotton and Parkin. Giannattasio put the Vikes back up by five with a three pointer only seconds before Lee could respond with a trey of her own. The teams continued to trade buckets with Cherub Lum's up-and-under in the last second tying the game 20-20 heading into the second.
 
Perimeter power fueled the Thunderbirds to some confidence in the second quarter as the 2015 CIS bronze medalists put up three big outside shots to take a 33-28 lead before going on to out-score the Vikes on a 7-0 streak. UBC wrapped up the first half shooting 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. For the Vikes Bugiardini and Krug were the one-two dynamic that kept the home side in check despite only putting up 12 points in the quarter. Bugiardini ended the first half with 15 points, while rookie Hanson led UBC with nine points. UBC earned 18 points from the bench and took a commanding 42-32 lead entering half time.
 
In the third frame the Vikes came back to out-score the Thunderbirds 19-16 despite trailing 58-51 entering the final stretch. Lee put up seven points alongside Hanson's four to keep UBC ahead but the Vikes' Bugiardini added another eight to her total to have 23 points in three quarters. Yee put in her second three-pointer of the night to help the Vikes trail by just seven points entering the fourth.
 
Distance shooting from UBC's Lee continued to sting the Vikes but a responding three from Giannattasio cut the T-Birds' lead to 61-59. It was end-to-end action as Karstein started to dominate under the hoop adding a few in the paint to get in to double-digit scoring. Karstein continued to run the show giving the Vikes their first lead in the second half, up 65-63, while a big shot from Giannattasio extended the lead 67-64 with under three minutes to play.
 
With under a minute Bugiardini put the Vikes up 70-66 but Lee put in her fifth three-pointer to bring UBC back within one point. Following a time out with less than one minute on the clock, UBC inbounded in the front court and got the ball in Parkin's hands who was fouled under the hoop. Parkin put in both from the line to bring the game 71-70 in favour of the T-Birds with nine seconds on the clock.
 
The Vikes inbounded to Karstein who's first shot hit the rim but the six-foot-one forward put in her own rebound at the buzzer to give the Vikes the 72-71 victory.
 
"Those two have led us in so many ways all year long and continue to do so," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair about Bugiardini and Karstein's performance. "We have been in a pretty dark place the last couple of weeks and I think that we just fought and that was the difference tonight. It felt like at times over the last couple of weeks we gave in and tonight we fought when we had our backs against the wall."
 
It's not over for these two teams as Victoria and UBC will square off again in another highly anticipated rivalry game Jan. 30 at 5:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on canadawest.tv.
 
The Vikes were pleased to partner with CTV Vancouver Island, 107.3 Kool FM, CFAX and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to run tonight's successful Shoot for the Cure event at the CARSA Performance Gym in Victoria.
 
 
SCORING BY QUARTER
UBC: 20-22-16-13 : 71
UVIC: 20-12-19-21: 72
 
SCORING LEADERS
UBC: Diana Lee (21), Adrienne Parkin (14), Jessica Hanson (13)
UVIC: Jenna Bugiardini (28), Amira Giannattasio (16), Nicole Karstein (14)