Box Score VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes began the second half of their Canada West season with a convincing 68-43 victory over the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat on Friday night at the CARSA Performance Gym.
Morgan Roskelley rang in the New Year by draining a pair of threes, as she scored the Vikes (7-2) first eight points, while
Katie Langdon used a pair of moves in the paint to stake the Vikes to a 12-8 lead after one frame.
"She gets us going everyday. She has been very understated her entire career here, but she's such an important piece for our team," said Vikes Head Coach
Dani Sinclair. "Everyone is so excited to see her do well because she's put in years of hard work even though she wasn't seeing the floor as much over the last few years. We're happy to see her have games like this."
The Heat (1-10) kept pace with the Vikes thanks to a strong first half from second-year guard Alessia Brutto. While she tied Lucy Faba and Jordan Korol with four first half points, she led the way with four assists.
As the Heat began to knock down shots on early in the second quarter, third-year Vikes guard
Ashlyn Day started clamping down on defence. Playing against her hometown team, Day forced three turnovers and blocked one shot in the opening 20. Her defence turned into offence, as she got on the glass and knocked down a corner jumper for her seven first half points.
The Vikes won the rebounding battle 52-48 and took cooked the Heat's bench by outscoring their subs 34-12.
Katie Langdon played a big role in both of those categories, as she came off the bench to score 12 points and record 11 rebounds.
"We talked about (Katie) this week. She's played starters minutes over the last few years but has came off the bench for us this year and has been up and down at times. We could tell that she was on her game today. When we missed shots, she got her hands on the ball and got on the glass. It's great to have a player like that come off the bench and provide us with a spark like that," said Sinclair.
Her 12 points tied her for the team lead with the captain
Kristy Gallagher, who scored half her points from the charity stripe.
Korol kept muscling her way into the paint, taking advantage of the size matchup and chipped in another four points for eight on the evening. She also led the Heat with eight rebounds.
Ana Evans knocked down a few jumpers in the second half to lead the Heat with nine points on
These two B.C. squads will close out the weekend tomorrow evening (5 p.m.) back at CARSA.