VICTORIA – The Trinity Western Spartans downed the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team 84-79 on Feb. 27 at the CARSA Performance Gym to force a Game 3 in the Canada West Play-In Series. The all-important deciding match goes tomorrow, Feb. 28, at 2:00 p.m. PST with the winner advancing to the Canada West Quarter-Finals against the MacEwan Griffins from Mar. 4-6.

[BOX SCORE]
 
Fourth-year Vike Jenna Bugiardini continued her torrent scoring pace with a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds. Fourth year Nicole Karstein added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Vikes while second years Amira Giannattasio and Kristy Gallagher each had 13 points.
 
Jessie Brown was a force for Trinity Western all night, topping all scorers on the court with 34 points and seven rebounds. Tessa Ratzlaff was next in line for the Spartans with 14 points while Kayla Gordan rounded out their top-3 with 13.
 
After shooting 3-for-16 from the foul line in the first half, the Spartans cleaned up their free throw game by going 11-for-12 from the line after the break. The Spartans finished 50 per cent from the field and were 6-for-9 from three-point distance in the second half. For the Vikes, their 16 turnovers to the Spartans' nine cost them, especially in the fourth quarter by giving Trinity Western too many opportunities to pull away late in the game.
 
"They played gritty and tough and outworked us tonight," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair. "We'll have to show what we're made of tomorrow and sustaining a full 40-minute effort will be crucial. They've had a lot of spirit on their side and we'll need to match that intensity."
 
Both teams started off the first quarter good from distance in their first possessions with Giannattasio and Brown hitting three-pointers. Up 10-8 with four minutes left in the quarter, the Vikes would string together a seven-point run including another three from Giannattasio to move ahead of the Spartans 17-8. A Brown three and one of two from the line reduced the deficit, but Karstein answered with four points of her own to help give the Vikes a 25-14 lead after one.
 
To begin the second frame, both teams struggled defensively with multiple errant and miscued passes. The Vikes didn't find the basket for the first 3:37 of the quarter and the Spartans took advantage by outscoring the Vikes 10-2 in that span to reduce the lead to 27-24. After Marissa Dheensaw hit a three for the Vikes, Luca Schmidt notched a lay-up for the Spartans at the buzzer to keep the score close at halftime 35-31.
 
The picture could've been painted a lot more differently in the first half if the Spartans capitalized from the foul line. Trinity Western was a low 3-for-16 (18.8 per cent) on free throws in the first half, helping make up for the Vikes' mistakes in the second quarter. The Vikes were shooting 52 per cent from the field through two frames with Bugiardini leading all scorers on the court with 13 points and nine rebounds. Trinity Western's Brown and Ratzlaff led the Spartans through two with nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Spartans looked most dangerous to start the second half and took their first lead of the game when Brown hit her fourth three-pointer of the night to put Trinity Western ahead 41-39. After trading leads multiple times, Jenna Krug put the Vikes back in front 50-47 with a three of her own with just under four minutes left in the quarter. Another buzzer beater, this time for three, from Schmidt reduced the Vikes' lead to 59-56 heading into the final frame.
 
Turnovers began to catch up with the Vikes in the fourth quarter, leading to Trinity Western taking their largest lead of four at 65-61. Down 82-79 with 20 seconds on the clock, the Vikes had a crucial possession with the chance to tie things up. A missed Gallagher three was picked up by the Vikes again, but Giannattasio's last second three went wide before the Vikes fouled Brown. The Spartans buried two from the line to put the game to rest 84-79 and force the all-important Game 3 to decide who moves on.
 
Game 3 of the Canada West Play-In Series tips off at 2:00 p.m. PST back at CARSA with the winner heading to Alberta to face the MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton in the Canada West Quarter-Finals Mar. 4-6. Tomorrow's decider will be streamed live with pay-per-view stats and video available at uvic.canadawest.tv. Live stats will be available at canadawest.org.
 
GAME SUMMARY:
             1         2         3         4         F
UVIC:  25       10       24       20       79
TWU:  14       17       25       28       84
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
UVIC: Jenna Bugiardini (27), Nicole Karstein (16), Amira Giannattasio (13)
TWU: Jessie Brown (34), Tessa Ratzlaff (14), Kayla Gordon (13)