Backed by the hot threepoint shooting from Allison Mulock on Friday, the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team kept their Canada West playoffs hopes alive.

Mulock scored 16 points, including five threes, as the Vikes smothered the UBC-Okanagan Heat 74-46 at Kelowna. As a team, the Vikes nailed nine shots from beyond the arc. The victory gives the Vikes a 7-8 record, while UBC-Okanagan fell to 2-13.

The fourth-place Vikes are chasing the Trinity Western Spartans for the third playoff spot in the division. The Thompson Rivers WolfPack helped UVic's playoffs chances with a 66-61 win over the Spartans. The Spartans now have an 8-8 record while fifth-place Thompson Rivers is 6-9.

The Vikes won every quarter against the Heat, including 20-6 during the second 10 minutes.

UVic veteran Debbie Yeboah from UVic was the game's top shooter with 18 points and she also added 10 rebounds. Point guard Cassandra Goodis chipped in with seven points, five assists and seven steals. Sarah Semeniuk had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Emily Kanester was the only UBC-O player to reach double figures with 11.

The Vikes will go gunning for the sweep tonight before preparing to close out the regular season with home-and-home clashes with the first-place UBC Thunderbirds. Both UVic teams will travel to Vancouver to meet the Thunderbirds on Feb. 10 before the teams return to McKinnon Gym on Feb. 17.

In the men's game, UVic hammered UBC-O 76-49 and that win, coupled with UBC's 77-72 loss to the Fraser Valley Cascades, vaulted the Vikes into a first-place tie with the Thunderbirds. Both UBC and UVic have 12-3 records while Fraser Valley is 11-5.

With two weeks to prepare for UBC-O, the Vikes' defence threw a blanket over the Heat.

Veteran Ryan MacKinnon sparked the Vikes with 21 points, while Terrell Evans added 13 and 11 rebounds.

The Vikes jumped out to a 22-9 lead and never looked back. They held the Heat to only 23 second-half points.

Yassine Ghomari, the Heat's leading scorer, averaging 18 points for game, was held to 10 points. Teammate Steve Morrison also chipped in with 10. The Heat's record fell to 2-13.

Should the Vikes sweep the Heat tonight, that will likely set up the two-game showdown against the Thunderbirds for first place. The Vikes and UBC men have two of the hottest rivalries in all of Canada.

rrauch@timescolonist.com