Posted: Jan 22, 2016
The Winnipeg Wesmen's aggressive style was too much for the Victoria Vikes in the opening game of the weekend doubleheader on Friday, Jan. 22.
Winnipeg won the game 75-65 as fourth-year guard Megan Noonan led the way with a game-high 20-points along with seven boards. Fellow fourth-year Wesmen guard Kerri Kuzbyt had 14 points in the victory.
"It gives us great confidence going into tomorrow night," said Kuzbyt. "We just played one possession at a time and stayed in the now and really stayed composed and took care of the little things."
The win was the Wesmen's second straight and improved their Canada West record to 3-8 in the Pioneer Division, while the Vikes (5-8) dropped their third straight game.
The third quarter was the difference as the Wesmen outscored the Vikes 21-13 while the three-point shooting of the visitor's reserve freshman Brittani Yee went cold down the stretch as she went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc in the game after hitting 3-of-4 threes in the first half.
"We finished strong with an upbeat intensity, which is what we are," said Kuzbyt. "It's going to help us tomorrow as we start off the same way first quarter and go right back at them."
The Wesmen came out as the aggressors in the first quarter, but the Vikes ability to spread around the three-point shooters kept the game close as they adjusted to their opponents' style. Winnipeg led 22-17 after 10 minutes, going 8-for-12 at the foul line. Victoria hit both foul shots they were granted.
In the second quarter, the Vikes unleashed a secret weapon in Yee who hit three early treys, contributing to the visitors ability to take a 34-32 advantage into the locker room at the half. Victoria opened the quarter on an 8-0 run, with two threes from Yee and a deuce from fourth-year forward Jenna Bugiardini, but a timeout by Wesmen coach Tanya McKay allowed the home side to adjust and get back four of those points soon after.
"You had to be aware of her [Yee] and we just had to adjust by sticking to our defence on the inside but be around the shooter outside," said the 21-year-old Kuzbyt.
Noonen led the Wesmen in scoring in the first half with 10 points, while Kuzbyt contributed seven points. For the Vikes, reserve player Yee led with nine points, while fourth-year starter Bugiardini had eight points, seven rebounds. In three-point shooting the Vikes were 42.9 per cent, while the Wesmen were 23.1 per cent.
Similar to how they started the game the Wesmen came out hard in the third quarter going on a 13-2 point run to regain the lead. Noonen led the Wesmen with 12 points in the quarter, giving her a game-high 20. Yee added her fourth three-pointer in the quarter to up her game total to 12 points. The Vikes Amira Giannattasio, a second-year guard from Hamilton, Ont., left the game with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter after colliding with a Wesmen player in the Vikes' offensive zone, putting no weight on her left ankle. The Wesmen led 55-47 after three.
The Wesmen successfully protected their lead in the fourth quarter as Yee's hot hand from beyond the arc went cold late in the game as she missed three consecutive threes when wide open. Bugiardini led the Vikes with the double-double of 13 points, 15 rebounds, while Yee finished with 12 points.
Vikes coach Dani Sinclair said they knew about the Wemen's aggressive style going in to the game, but didn't adjust properly in game conditions.
"We knew going into the game that they played that way with the press and the half court as well tracking and all that, we tried to prepare for that coming in but, I think we didn't execute very well and we had some pretty costly turnovers," said Sinclair. "You have to understand how to break that. Winnipeg did a great job tonight executing."
Sinclair added she was pleased with the continuing progress of Yee's adjustment to the university game.
"She's a very smart player, though she's somewhat diminutive, she's tough and very smart and we really needed that," said Sinclair about the five-foot-eight guard.
The Vikes coach said Giannattasio would get her ankle examined by a doctor tonight, but didn't rule her out of Saturday's rematch.
The Wesmen and Vikes face off for Game 2 of the weekend doubleheader, Saturday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.