KELOWNA, BC - The lead changed 19 times on Friday night but the University of Victoria Vikes' momentum didn't, as women's basketball rode a double-double from Nicole Karstein to a 78-67 victory over UBC Okanagan at the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium.

"Any time we felt like we had a couple possession leads they would hit a big three or get a big steal and kept putting pressure on us," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair. "I think our girls responded and Marissa Dheensaw came up and defensively was a stopper for us and made some big defensive plays.

"She sparked us and then everybody else jumped on board."

As a result, the Heat women now hold a record of 2-11 while the Vikes now sit three games above .500 at 7-4 and are on a three-game win streak.

"It's obviously nice to get some momentum but the girls are pretty focused on just taking care of the task at hand," said Sinclair. 

The Vikes had four of their five starters score in double digits. Karstein had a game-high 22 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Amira Giannattasio and Jenna Bugiardini each had 13 and Dheensaw had 12. Kristy Gallagher also came off the bench to put up 11 points for Victoria.

"One of the great things is that we're starting to see some big contributions from some different people," said Sinclair. "We had a solid game from a lot of people all around and Marissa was huge for us."

The Heat had four players score in double digits. Emily Kanester led the way with 14, Claire Elliott was close behind her with 12, Shenelle Tamminen came off the bench to score 11, and Jordan Korol finished with 10. Korol was also just two rebounds shy of earning a double-double.

As a team, the Heat by far had the better bench, as 24 points came from players who didn't start. Rebounds and turnovers were the difference, though, as Victoria finished with 41 rebounds and 18 second chance points, as well as 21 points off turnovers while the Heat had just nine.

As the 19 lead changes in the game would indicate, it was close most of the way through. Kanester was the difference-maker in the first half, with her three-point shooting getting the scoring started in the first quarter, and giving the Heat their largest lead of the game (36-29) with two minutes left in the second.

Giannattasio closed out the first half with the hot hand, draining a three with 28 seconds left to make it a one-possession game (38-35), and hitting another shot at the buzzer to bring her Vikes within a single point (38-37) at half-time.

Thanks to another Kanester three-pointer with 17 seconds left in the third quarter, the Heat also took a one-point lead into the fourth. With five lead changes in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, neither team could extend their lead until the final minutes.

Jenna Krug, Giannattasio, and Bugiardini took over in the latter half of the fourth, scoring from each area of the floor on a 9-0 Vikes run to jump ahead by eight (74-66) with three minutes left to play. Kanester made a free throw with 2:31 left to make it 74-67, but that would be the last Heat basket.

The Vikes took complete control in the final two minutes, dominating the glass and shutting down the Heat shooters to close out the game. A Karstein jump shot with 18 seconds left put Victoria up my double digits, and a three-point attempt from Chloe Kennedy wouldn't go, leaving Giannattasio to grab the rebound and run out the clock.

The Heat and Vikes will play again Saturday night, with tip-off set for 5 p.m. in Kelowna.
 
SCORING SUMMARY 
UVIC: 18-19-16-25: 78
UBCO: 15-23-16-13: 67

SCORING LEADERS
UVIC: Nicole Karstein (22), Amira Giannattasio (15), Jenna Bugiardini (15)  
TRU: Emily Kanester (14), Claire Elliott (12), Shenelle Tamminen (11)