VANCOUVER – The Canada West women's basketball regular season comes to a close this weekend, and the UBC Thunderbirds and Victoria Vikes will square off to decide who gets to enjoy home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
UBC has a one game edge over Victoria, so a win in either game means the Thunderbirds will host a visiting Prairie Division team at War Memorial Gym next week. They'll get the chance to seal the deal on Friday night in front of their home crowd, but if not will have to get the job done on the road Saturday night in Victoria.
TICKETS /
WEBCAST
GAME TIMES
Friday, Feb. 15
6 p.m. - No. 9 Victoria at No.5 UBC
Saturday, Feb. 16
5 p.m. - No. 5 UBC at No. 9 Victoria
No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds (16-4)
Last Week: W 63-60, W 70-48 at UNBC
UBC is riding a six-game win streak, but they haven't played a high-calibre opponent since losing to Regina four weeks ago. Since then they've faced teams who were all well below the .500 mark, and while they've gotten the W's, some victories were less convincing than others. These two games against Victoria will be an important test of their playoff readiness and ability to handle the pressure.
Last weekend in Prince George, the Thunderbirds were nearly upset by the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday night, escaping with a narrow three-point edge thanks to a clutch steal and layup by
Zana Williams (Vancouver, BC) late in the fourth quarter, followed by four unmatched points from
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC). Four Thunderbirds finished in double figures that night.
Notably,
Alyssa Binns (Port Moody, BC) did a great job stepping in for injured point guard
Cassandra Knievel (Nanaimo, BC). She was one of the more efficient shooters throughout the weekend, hitting 7 of her 11 shots and contributing 11 and 12 points respectively. Tori Spangehl (Victoria, BC) continued to attack the glass, and
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) collected two more game highs with 14 and 16 point nights. She missed just one shot in Saturday's game and averaged a point for every minute she was on the floor. The inside defensive presence of Stansfield and
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC) will be a key factor against Victoria, who play well in the paint and know how to hit the offensive boards.
With Stansfield playing the best basketball of her career recently, the Vikes are in trouble if
Kris Young finds her shooting touch again this weekend. And although her scoring production has been down a bit lately, Young always finds a way to help her team out. We have yet to see a game this season where she hasn't lead the Thunderbirds in at least one major category (points, rebounds, assists).
No. 9 Victoria Vikes (15-5)
Last Week: W 79-50, W 94-58 at Mount Royal
The Vikes come to UBC on Friday having won four straight and knowing that they need another weekend sweep to surpass the Thunderbirds in the standings. They've had no trouble whatsoever the past couple weekends against UNBC and Mount Royal, winning by no less than 17 points. They played their most dominant game of the season in their most recent victory, scoring a season-high 94 points and taking a 36-point advantage on the road over Mount Royal. They hit 11 three-balls that night and hauled down 50 rebounds.
Rookie Jenna Bugiardini (Hamilton, ON) was on fire, drilling four three's for a game-high 20 points. Known to be a defensive force, fellow rookie Tessla Rennie (Red Lodge, MT) has played strongly of late and had a double-double 13 points and 10 boards. Veteran Debbie Yeboah (Winnipeg, MB) also added 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, which is a fairly standard night for her. She sits fourth on the Canada West leaderboard in scoring, and converts an incredible 88 percent of her free throws, the best mark in the country.
Other players who contribute for Victoria on a nightly basis are third-year forward Jessica Renfrew (Victoria, BC) and fifth-year post Chelsea McMullen (Prince George, BC), who average 13 and 9 points respectively and both shoot over 50 percent from the floor. Starting point guard Cassandra Goodis (Penticton, BC) gets the ball moving and averages a league-best 6.5 assists per game.
Victoria head coach Rich Chambers has experienced and reliable leaders setting the tempo of the game, but his team is also blessed with a fairly deep bench capable of putting in significant minutes and knocking down big shots. UBC will need to bring their A-game this weekend.
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