VICTORIA, B.C. – The University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team is set to welcome 2016 and the return of Canada West basketball to the CARSA Performance Gym with a two-game home set against the Manitoba Bisons on Jan. 8-9. The Vikes women and head coach Dani Sinclair are keen to improve their 3-5 record and current two-game win streak against a struggling Bisons side, who sit winless at 0-8 this season.
 
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The Vikes went 3-0 in exhibition play in December at the Toronto Invitational from Dec. 28-30 to add to the momentum generated from a road sweep of the Lethbridge Pronghorns before the holiday break on Nov. 27-28. The Vikes defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs, Western Mustangs and Toronto Varsity Blues 79-51, 73-69, and 70-55, respectively to keep Vikes motivations high going into the second-half of the Canada West season. Fourth-year forwards Jenna Bugiardini, Nicole Karstein and second-year guard Kristy Gallagher led the charge offensively for the Vikes with each recording multiple double-digit point totals during exhibition tournament play in Toronto, Ont.
 
"Our performance from the end of November to the start of January gives us come confidence entering the second half of the season," said Sinclair, whose team is undefeated in their last five games in all competitions. "In Toronto during the break, I thought we played more as a team and started doing some of the things we talked about at the start of the season. We hit our shots and won rebounds against quality competition, and it was good to get our legs back and shake off the rust from the holiday break with some winning performances."
 
The Canada West Pioneer Division features a top four being led by the 8-0 Saskatchewan Huskies, followed closely by the Alberta Pandas (8-1), Regina Cougars (7-1) and Calgary Dinos (7-2). Six points separate the fourth-place Dinos from the rest of the division, with the Vikes sitting in sixth behind the Brandon Bobcats (4-2). Second-year Vikes guard Amira Giannattasio is one of the best three-point shooters in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) through the first half of the season, shooting 22-for-55 from beyond the arc. Fellow second-year Vike Paige Thomson sits tenth in the Canada West for rebounds with 72.
 
The 2015-16 Canada West season hasn't faired well for Manitoba at the half-way point of their campaign. The Bisons are last in the Pioneer Division standings and last in points allowed this season in the Canada West with 642 through eight games. Offensively, the Bisons are second-last in points per game with 54.3 – only 0.9 better than the 1-7 Mount Royal Cougars of the Explorer Division. The Bisons feature one of the most youthful rosters in the CIS with ten players in either year one or two of their varsity careers. First-year guard Nicole Konieczny leads the Bisons offensively with an average of 9.4 points per game. Fourth-year forward Rebecca Potter, the most senior player on the current Bisons roster, averages 3.9 rebounds per game on the defensive side.
 
"(Manitoba) is a well-coached, young team that plays hard on any given night," added Sinclair of her team's weekend opponents. "I don't think their record is indicative of the way they've been playing, and it's important for us not to take these games lightly and overthink our opposition. It's a key matchup for both teams considering where we both are in the standings."
 
The Vikes are sure to be bolstered by a lively atmosphere at the CARSA Performance Gym with students returning to campus for the winter semester. On and off the court, the Vikes expect to carry the advantage with the help of recent performances and a great crowd on hand at CARSA.
 
The Vikes and Bisons get underway this weekend on Jan. 8 at 6:00 p.m. and Jan. 9 at 5:00 p.m. Both games tip off at the CARSA Performance Gym. Ticket information is available at govikesgo.com/tickets and free live stats are available on canadawest.org. Pay-per-view video and stats are available at uvic.canadawest.tv.