Tale of the Weekend
 
VICTORIA – The two hottest teams west of Saskatchewan in Canada West women's basketball will do battle this coming weekend, when the UVic Vikes host the Northern British Columbia Timberwolves in a pair of games on Jan. 19 and 20.
 
Getting underway at 6 p.m. on Friday night and 5 p.m. on Saturday, the games will pit a 10-4 Vikes team that has vaulted their way up the conference standings during their current six-game winning streak against a Timberwolves squad that has won four straight games to claw their way back to a record of 8-8. The Vikes are currently fifth in the Canada West while the Timberwolves are just three spots back of the Vikes, locked in a tie for eighth-place.
 
The last time these teams met was in preseason action during the Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament one season ago. The Vikes defence was dominant on the day, limiting the Timberwolves to scoring in single-digits in both the second and third quarters en route to a 65-49 victory.
 
Last Time Out
 
Both the Vikes and Timberwolves managed to pull out tight wins on the road last weekend.
 
Victoria looked the more comfortable of the two teams; grinding out a close 81-78 win before easing their way to a 90-78 victory in a pair of games against the Manitoba Bisons. Fourth-year guard Amira Giannattasio led the team with 47 points over the two games.
 
Things were a lot closer for the Timberwolves. A margin of just six points separated UNBC and the Brandon Bobcats over their weekend set, but it was the Timberwolves who came out the victor in both games.
 
By the Numbers
 
17.8 / 17.6: The Timberwolves are led by the dynamic duo of Maria Mongomo and Vasiliki Louka, who sit third and fourth in points per game in the conference.
74.9: The Vikes offence has been hot all season long, they are third in Canada West in points per game as a team.
0: Neither of these teams have lost a game yet in 2018.
 
Coach's Take
Dani Sinclair, Vikes head coach
 
On the play of Maria Mongomo and Vasiliki Louka
"They're going to be very tough to deal with, they've proven themselves over the course of this year. They also have some pieces around them that have helped take a little bit of the pressure off them so that you can't just solely focus on those two. We are trying to find a way to limit them but to a certain extent they are going to get what they get. Mongomo creates things defensively for herself and they can both rebound offensively. If you can take away some of those and make them work as hard as you can in the half-court, you can keep them to a reasonable number."

"Louka is the most pure post player in our league."

On the Vikes strong offence
"Our veteran players have worked hard on their game to continue to get better. They've been able to put up some numbers and we have a really talented group of first and second year players that have been able to come in and make a difference, that has meshed really well together. It has helped that we are not solely relying on particular people to score and hopefully that trend can continue."

On the games last weekend
"You obviously don't want to be in a situation where the games are that close but it's also not the worst thing in the world to get that experience in tight games, we had to execute well down the stretch. Good teams are going to go on runs and we have to find ways to limit those runs but a win is a win, it was good for us to execute in someone else's gym."

"It feels like we have been on the road for a while, especially with us doing that trip out East over the holidays. Things got going really quickly after the break and we really didn't get a day off last week with us playing Sunday, so not travelling is huge. Yesterday felt like a Monday in terms of grogginess so it's nice to be home and it's nice to be home for the foreseeable future, and hopefully we can extend that past the regular season.
 
Game Info
Friday, Jan. 19 – 6:00 p.m. – vs. UNBC Timberwolves, CARSA Performance Gym – Watch live on canadawest.tv | Buy tickets at govikesgo.com
Sunday, Jan. 20 – 5:00 p.m. – vs. UNBC Timberwolves, CARSA Performance Gym – Watch live on canadawest.tv | Buy tickets at govikesgo.com

Northern British Columbia Timberwolves (8-8)
Canada West Standings: 9th
RPI: .4870: 10th
PF: 1109
PA: 1134
Last Week: 2-0
Streak: W 4
Last Canada West Title: N/A
Last U SPORTS Title: N/A