It isn’t the 1980s, but that didn’t stop the University of Victoria Vikes basketball teams from using a Pretty in Pink vibe on Saturday night.
The Vikes teams wore pink-trimmed jerseys in raising $5,420 for breast-cancer research while sweeping the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in both the men’s and women’s games in the annual Shoot for the Cure Night.
The UVic men moved to 12-4 in Canada West with a riveting 73-71 victory on Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA Gym as guard Scott Kellum scored the final four points for UVic and forward Matt Ellis made a key late block on defence.
“We wavered a few times, but battled back strong,” said Kellum, the fourth-year player from Issaquah, Washington.
“I had the chance at the end and I took it.”
With Friday’s 66-62 victory, the Vikes swept the set against a feisty Thompson Rivers squad from Kamloops (11-5) that was not easily subdued.
“Thompson Rivers is a grinding team that battled the whole time,” said Ellis.
“That is a scrappy WolfPack team and we are going to have to ice up next week before playing Manitoba. But we battled through it. This [Vikes] is such a special team to be part of this season.”
The UVic women's team, meanwhile, ended their five-game losing streak with a weekend sweep of the WolfPack, following up their 67-59 win Friday with a 79-59 victory Saturday evening.
“We played hard through the losing streak and kept a positive mentality and kept pushing,” said guard Morgan Roskelley, the Oak Bay High grad who hit on seven treys Saturday for the Vikes.
When things were going better for them earlier in the season, the Vikes were good enough to be ranked in the U Sports national top-10 poll. They regained that form this weekend.
“It’s really important to be above .500 again (9-7),” said Roskelley, who finished with 21 points.
Forward Katie Langdon, as effective inside as Roskelley was outside, added 20 points for UVic. Rookie Tana Pankratz added 11 points and Ashlyn Day 10.
Leilani Carney led Thompson Rivers with 13 points as the WolfPack fell to 7-9.
The men’s and women’s UVic squads close out the home portion of their regular seasons next weekend at CARSA against the University of Manitoba Bisons.
