The University of Victoria Vikes won their third-straight home game and 15th consecutive over the Brandon University Bobcats 80-58 on Saturday night at the CARSA Performance Gym.
The Bobcats didn’t get off to the greatest start last night, but in the Canada West rematch, they were much more attentive on defence, as Eden Tabin broke up an early play with her active hands for one of her three steals. The Bobcats also out-rebounded the Vikes 10-8 in the first frame.
Chelsea Misskey came off the bench in the first and took the ball hard to the rim and knocked down a pull up jumper. She also drilled a shot from downtown in the second and third quarter, en route to her nine points on five shots.
Hailey Maas played above her season average all weekend for the Bobcats. She followed up a 13-point performance with another 11 points (team high), as she used a pair of step-through finishes around the rim in the first half. She also led the Bobcats with six rebounds.
In the second, the Vikes stretched their lead with a corner three from Haily Weaver, while Kristy Gallagher drove through the lane for some finishes at the rim along with stopping and popping at the elbow for 10 first half points.
Whenever Gallagher wasn’t driving through the paint the Vikes’ leading scorer Ashlyn Day went to work in the paint. Strong dribble drives, rolling to the rim and jumpers from within 10-feet from the rim led Day towards another 16-point performance.
Not helping things for the Bobcats was a few careless fouls. At the end of a shot clock with three minutes remaining in the half, Calli McMillan had nowhere to go. While throwing up a prayer, McMillan drew contact from Sydney Latrace and sunk both free throws. McMillan’s pair highlighted the Vikes ability to get to the line, as they were a perfect 18-for-18 through 20 minutes, while the Bobcats were only 2-for-3. The free throws were a large reason why the Vikes led 43-23 at half.
Adrianna Proulx showed off a strong take from the elbow and finished off the and-1 play just before the end of the first half. She also got the third quarter going with a three-pointer from the bend in the arc. She finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Marissa Dheensaw finally found her way onto the score sheet in the third quarter when she knocked down a short-corner jumper and followed up a McMillan miss for the putback.
Aleah Ashlee dove to keep a ball alive on offence in the third quarter. The following possession, the ball came back to the Comox, B.C., native and she drew some contact underneath the rim and later knocked down her foul shot to extend the Vikes lead by 25.
The Vikes (5-1) are on the road next weekend when they head to Calgary for a pair of games against the Mount Royal University Cougars (2-3). The Bobcats (0-8) have a home-and-home series with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (4-4). The first game of that series goes Nov. 28 in Winnipeg and returns to Brandon on Dec. 2.
