Box Score BRANDON - The Victoria Vikes jumped to an early lead and maintained the pressure beating the Bobcats 70-56 Friday night.

The Vikes came out firing on all cylinders, going on a 12-4 run in the first three minutes of the game. Brandon managed to battle back to trail by two at 12-10, but were unable to continue momentum and entered half-time down 34-27.

The 'Cats were out-scored in the third quarter 22-14 and were unable to come back from the deficit, despite a strong fourth quarter.

Aleah Bridges had a great night for BU, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight boards. Her performance didn't go unnoticed by head coach Novell Thomas.
"Aleah Bridges had a stellar night, probably one of the best games of her career here," Thomas said.

Amy Williams added 10 points and six rebounds for the 'Cats.

Jenna Bugiardini led the Vikes with 18 points and nine rebounds. Jessica Renfrew added 16 points and five boards.

Vikes senior point-guart Cassandra Goodis notched four assists, just three shy of breaking the all-time Canada West assists record currently held by former Simon Fraser University star Lani Gibbons with 539.

Thomas acknowledged that his team was strong in spurts, but didn't have the consistency needed to win the game.

"We did some things well. We rebounded the ball well, but we weren't clean with the execution when we needed to be. We had spurts where we needed to be solid on the defensive end and we weren't. At the offensive end, just opportunity to capitalize on a mistake that they made, but we threw it out of bounds, or threw it at a foot, and didn't utilize our chance to score," said Thomas.

Looking forward to tomorrow's rematch, Thomas knows exactly what his team needs to do in order to be successful.

"We need to be tough as nails on the defensive end and clean and efficient on the offensive end," added Thomas.

The win brings the Vikes record to 10-7, while Brandon falls to 3-16.

Both teams will face off again tomorrow in Brandon. The tip-off will take place at 5pm at the Healthy Living Centre.