Times Colonist
The University of Victoria Vikes women’s basketball team’s five-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt on Saturday night, dropping a 73-63 decision at Thompson Rivers University.
The TRU Wolf Pack over-powered the Vikes with quick 7-0 and 8-0 runs late in the opening first two quarters as the hosts built up a 42-34 advantage at the halftime break.
Victoria’s record slips to 11-5 while the Wolf Pack improves to 12-5 in a tight battle for playoff positioning in the Pacific Division of Canada West play.
The Vikes had defeated TRU 71-67 on Friday in Kamloops.
On Saturday, it was simply too much Jen Ju as the TRU point guard pumped in 21 points to lead the Wolf Pack, while Jorri Duxbury had 18. Debbie Yeboah once again led the Vikes with 16 points with Jenny Lewis adding 11, including three three-pointers.
Victoria trailed 55-47 after three quarters and managed to cut it to 68-63 late in the fourth before the Wolf Pack finished off the kill.
Down 18-10 in the first quarter, associate coach Dani Sinclair’s timeout seemed to spark the Vikes, who cut it to 18-17, but TRU came back with its own 7-0 run and never really surrendered control from then on.
In men’s play, Chris McLaughlin and Terrell Evans each had 17 points while Michael Acheampong and Brin Taylor added 13 and 12 each as the Vikes defeated TRU 80-65.
Taylor was four-of-eight from three-point land for Victoria, which improves to 11-5 on the season and maintains a hold on second place with the weekend sweep of the Wolf Pack.
Both Victoria teams return to action this weekend as the Vikes entertain the University of Northern British Columbia.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
Twitter/tc_vicsports
