Tale of the Weekend
 
VICTORIA – In the middle of a furious fight for playoff positioning, the UVic Vikes women's basketball team travels to Abbotsford, B.C. this weekend to play the Fraser Valley Cascades, who are currently just one win behind the Vikes in the standings.
 
"You want to be running on all cylinders at this point and I don't think it's a bad thing to be playing playoff type games," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair. "That's how impactful these games are and that's what the games last weekend felt like."
 
The games will be played on February 3, at 6 pm and February 4, at 5 pm.
 
The match up will have an immense impact on the Canada West playoff picture, with just four games left in the regular season, the Vikes occupy sixth place with the Cascades right behind them in seventh.
 
The top four teams at the end of the regular season, based on RPI, receive a bye through the first round of the playoffs.
 
RPI is calculated using a combination of winning percentage, opponents' winning percentage, and opponents' opponents' average winning percentage
 
With just four points separating fourth from eighth in the standings the results from this weekend will go a long way in the Vikes either climbing to a bye or tumbling to a difficult first round match up.
 
"It's only good for us to be playing in that kind of intensity and pressure," said Sinclair.
 
There is not a long history between the Vikes and Cascades. The last time the two teams played each other was in the 2013-14 season, when the Cascades won two games in Victoria by scores of 68-55 and 77-61.
 
Last Time Out
 
A split at home was all the Vikes could manage last weekend, playing against another playoff-bound team in the form of the Trinity Western Spartans.
 
The Spartans used tight defensive play to sneak past the Vikes 64-60 on Friday night before the Vikes offence exploded in an 87-82 win in the rematch.
 
Fifth-year forward Jenna Bugiardini was named the Vikes Muscle MLK™ Female Athlete of the Week for her record setting performances over the weekend.
 
Recording 35 points and 27 rebounds over the weekend, Bugiardini continued to climb the Canada West record book and now sits in the top 20 in all-time Canada West rebounds (690) and offensive rebounds (272). Bugiardini also moved into the top 30 in career Canada West points (1324).
 
"She is one of the most selfless people and players," said Sinclair. "It's really special for her, she speaks to our culture here in the sense that she is just a hard-working, blue-collar type player."
 
The Cascades were at home last weekend and took care of business in a pair of tight games against a struggling Thompson Rivers University team, winning 69-64 and 82-77.
 
Fifth-year Cascade Kayli Sartori scored 19 and 21 points in the victories.
 
By the Numbers
 
18.1: The number of points per game Sartori averages, second highest in the conference.
 
69.8: The number of points per game the Vikes average as a team, seven more than Fraser Valley.
 
Coach's Take
Dani Sinclair, Vikes head coach
 
On the play of Bugiardini
 
"The thing we are most proud of her for when it comes to those numbers is the rebounding. That's something that she has really taken onus of over the last two seasons as a need for us."
 
On Kayli Sartori
 
"She is definitely tough to handle, is a very talented, experienced player. Even though she scores a lot she does understand how to use her teammates well."
 
On what she expects from Fraser Valley
 
"They are big and strong, they play Sartori out on the perimeter and have two other strong bodies inside. It will be a lot for us to handle." 
 
"We talked about rebounding being the big category for us, last Friday night we lost the rebounding battle and lost the game. It's going to be a similar battle with them this weekend."
 
"As far as pure ability to score, Sartori is the biggest challenge, but they are tough all around and have a strong ability to rebound."
 
Game Information
 
Friday, Feb. 3 – 6:00 p.m. – @ Fraser Valley Cascades, Envision Athletic Centre, Abbotsford B.C.
Watch live on canadawest.tv


Saturday, Feb. 4 – 5:00 p.m. – @ Fraser Valley Cascades, Envision Athletic Centre, Abbotsford B.C.
Watch live on canadawest.tv

Fraser Valley Cascades (10-6)
U Sports National Ranking: N/A
Canada West Standings: t-7
RPI: 0.5405
Last Week: 2-0
Streak: W 2
Last Canada West Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A