WINNIPEG - The University of Winnipeg Wesmen punched their ticket to the Canada West Women's Basketball Final Four with a convincing 92-65 victory over the University of Victoria Vikes in the third and deciding game of their Canada West Quarter-Final series Saturday afternoon at the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg last advanced to the Final Four back in the 2006-07 season.

"I think we came up against a team that had their backs against the wall," said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair. "They've been the top team in our conference this season and they decided they weren't going to lose today.

"Antoinette Miller took over this game from start to finish—she was a beast in a good way."

Miller led the Wesmen with a 31-point, 10-rebound performance. Faith Hezekiah had 17 points and seven rebounds. Kerri Kuzbyt had 15 points while Lena Wenke scored 10. Megan Noonan had 11 assists and two steals.

Nicole Karstein led the Vikes with 13 points, followed by Jenna Bugiardini with 12. Jenna Krug added 10. Marissa Dheensaw led the Vikes in rebounding with six.

After a close opening quarter with the Wesmen holding a slim 19-16 lead, Winnipeg exploded for 30 points in the second quarter while holding the Vikes to 12 points in the frame to go into the halftime break leading 49-28.

Winnipeg connected on 18-of-30 (60%) from the field in the opening half. The Vikes struggled from the field connecting on 9-of-28 (32%) in the opening 20 minutes, including 3-of-15 in the second quarter.

The Vikes outscored the Wesmen 16-15 in a low scoring third quarter. Winnipeg closed out the contest outscoring the Vikes 28-21 in the final frame.

Winnipeg had the advantage in the rebounding department by a 33-20 margin, including 22 on the defensive end.

The Wesmen will play the University of Regina Cougars in the semifinal round next Friday evening at 8:15 p.m. The game can be seen live on canadawest.tv.

SCORING SUMMARY
UVIC: 16-12-16-21: 65
WPG: 19-30-15-28: 92

SCORING LEADERS
UVIC: Nicole Karstein (13), Jenna Bugiardini (12), Jenna Krug (10)
WPG: Antoinette Miller (31), Faith Hezekiah (17), Kerri Kuzbyt (15)