Oliver Rizun, Heat Sports Information

KELOWNA, B.C. -  Jordan Korol and Vanessa Botteselle were once again the story as the two combined for 35 points and 19 rebounds but the Victoria Vikes came away victorious 81-64 on Friday night.

Korol had another double-double thanks to 19 points and 13 boards while Botteselle had another outstanding all-around game with 16 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

Victoria came out firing on all cylinders as they made five triples in the first quarter to build a 26-14 lead after one. UBCO would make a run late in the third quarter as they cut the deficit to just 11 but were unable to get any closer to the visitors.

With the win, the Vikes (9-8) clinched a playoff spot and currently sit just one game back of the sixth spot in the standings with three games left. The Heat fall to 1-18 with the loss and will close out their season tomorrow night in the rematch with tip going at 5 p.m. PST.

Katie Langdon was a tough matchup all night long for the home team as the forward had 18 points and seven boards while Calli McMillan hit five triples and had nine assists for the visitors as well. Former Immaculata student Ashlyn Day also had an impact as she had four points, three steals, two rebounds, and two assists in 24 minutes of action.

Bobby Mitchell commented on how his team did a better job guarding the three-point line as the game went on. "We gave them some good looks but we made a little adjustment and tried to make it harder on them in the second half and did a much better job. We knew coming in we needed to challenge the three-point line because they do a good job of getting the shooters open." 

As a team, Victoria had 21 assists on the night, including nine in the opening 10 minutes which propelled them to the victory.

Both teams shot the ball well on Friday night as the Vikes ended up shooting just under 44% from the field while UBCO was not far behind at 40%.

First half:

Victoria and UBCO came out hot in the first as they made the first five shots between the two to get things going on the offensive end. Cali McMillan was the spark for the visitors as she had three made triples in the opening 10 minutes to give the Vikes a 26-14 advantage after one quarter. This advantage would grow in the second frame as Victoria continued to get open looks on the home team, building a 51-32 lead at the halftime break. 

Second half:

The visitors were able to build their advantage to 24 points just under a minute into the third but UBCO would battle back to trail by just 11 with under seven minutes to go in the frame. They trailed again by this same margin later on in the quarter but would not be able to cut the deficit to single-digits as the Vikes made timely shots late on. Kelowna product Hannah Walline caught fire in the fourth quarter as she nailed three shots from behind-the-arc, scoring nine points in the final 10 minutes in her hometown.