The Martlet

The Vikes women’s basketball team got down to business early on the night of Saturday, Jan. 16, coasting to a 70-50 victory over the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack.

The Vikes played good defence the night after a 79-59 triumph over TRU, and held the ‘Pack to single digits in each of the first two quarters.

By halftime, the Vikes were up 32-14, led on offence by Kayla Dykstra, who earned a double-double in the first half alone.

The Wolfpack came back with renewed energy and aggression in the third quarter, lead by fast-paced third-year guard Jen Ju, and the hot shooting of guard Kaitlyn Widsten.

Widsten finished with a team-high of 12 points, while Ju turned in a solid line of five points, five rebounds and four assists.

Ju pushed the pace early, scoring the first points of the half, followed shortly by a three-pointer in the latter half of the quarter. Unfortunately for the ‘Pack, the Vikes matched their enthusiasm with great hustle coming from guard Debbie Yeboah.

“I sort of say Debbie Y. is what defenses must ask themselves: ‘Debbie, why? What can we do to stop her?’” said coach Brian Cheng of Yeboah’s performance in the second half.

Yeboah was the game’s top scorer, with a total of 15 points on six of 17 shooting, followed closely by CIS MVP Dykstra’s 12 points and 10 rebounds. Chiliwack native Vanessa Forstbauer finished with 12 points as well, and Jane Anholt turned in with nine points and eight rebounds.

“Everyone came out and did their job, we played good defense for most of it, and that’s what won us the game,” said Dykstra of the team’s success.

Everyone did get to come out and do their part as Cheng was feeling comfortable and pulled all of the starters by late in the fourth quarter allowing playing time for up-and-comers such as second-year forward Natalie Janssens, who managed to get in a basket in her modest eight minutes of court time.

In Friday’s game, the Vikes saw five players realized double digits in scoring, lead by guard Kristen Hughes’ 16 in route to an easy victory over the ‘Pack. Dykstra scored 15 to go with her 10 rebounds, and her performance on Jan. 16 gave her back to back double-doubles.

Saturday’s win gave the Vikes a doubleheader sweep and brings their recard to 7-4 in the CanadaWest conference as they prepare for next weekend’s (Jan. 22 and 23) upcoming games in Calgary and Lethbridge.