Friday night in Victoria, the UNBC Timberwolves nailed a season-high 11 three pointers, and put forth a gutsy road effort in a slim 73-69 loss to the Victoria Vikes. Sveta Boykova led all scorers Friday with 20 points, four threes, and five rebounds for UNBC while the Vikes were led offensively by Karis de Paiva who finished with a 13-point, 11 rebound double-double. Three other Vikes finished in double-digits offensively while both Sarah Kuklisin and Viktoriia Filatova ended the night with 10 points apiece for UNBC who through an entire 40 minute game were awarded just two free throws by the officials. Conversely the Victoria Vikes went to the charity stripe 44 times!
Threes from Sveta Boykova and Sophia Fuller early helped vault UNBC to an early 6-3 advantage. Boykova then added a layup off an offensive board to make it a five-point gap. Boykova began the night four-for-six and was two-for-two from deep as she recorded 10 of UNBC’s first 17 points. She’d finish with 12 in the first quarter.
The leading scorer early for the Vikes was Karis de Paiva who had five of Victoria’s first 12. Late in the first, the Vikes did well to inch their way back within one (21-20) as Makena Anderson drilled a jumper, but Adaiah Tupas Singh hit a high floater with under five seconds to go in the quarter, cementing a 23-20 UNBC lead after 10 minutes.
Tegan Michel nailed a triple on Victoria’s opening possession of the second which tied the game at 23. A jumper from de Paiva and two free-throws from Anderson opened up a four-point (27-23) edge for the hosts as UNBC went zero for their first six shots. That changed when Brynn Dergousoff notched her first points of the night off a challenging reverse layup off an offensive board. Amrit Manak then drilled a triple – the fourth of the night for UNBC – which made it 29-28 for Victoria.
Halfway through the second, Victoria led the game 36-31 and held a staggering 20-0 edge in free-throw attempts. They’d be awarded four more shots from the charity stripe before the half while UNBC did not have a single trip to the line through the opening 20 minutes. 16 of Victoria’s 24 free throws were successful. The Vikes ended the second quarter on an 8-0 run thanks to a jumper from Abigail Becker, a three from Anderson and a free throw and a jumper from de Paiva and led 48-36. Anderson (12) and de Paiva (10) were both in double figures for Victoria at half while Boykova led all scorers through 20 minutes with 15 for UNBC. Sergey Shchepotkin’s club fired an impressive six-for-12 from three through the opening 20.
Bella Mesquita and Sarah Kuklisin both hit threes and Viktoriia Filatova nailed a jumper staking UNBC to an 8-6 advantage in opening four minutes of the third quarter. Then at the halfway point of the quarter, Adaiah Tupas-Singh was fouled on a successful layup, and her successful ‘And 1’ free throw marked the first of the night for UNBC! Then after back-to-back makes from Filatova, the TWolves trailed only by three. At one point early in the third, Victoria led by 14.
With four minutes left in the quarter, UNBC held a 15-7 edge in points, and that lead increased by three more when Kuklisin connected from deep, moving the Green and Gold to within one! Mimi Sigue answered with a layup and Becker hit the 20th and 21st free throws of the day for Victoria, pushing the hosts ahead by five. The next two Victoria points also came via free-throws as de Paiva and Becker each went one-for-two, and with under a minute left in the third quarter the free-throw attempts showed a 34-1 edge for Victoria.
Despite the glaring discrepancy in foul shots, the TWolves kept their heads down and focused. Sophia Fuller connected on the final shot of the quarter for UNBC giving them a 20-13 advantage in the third and keeping them within striking distance of the Vikes who led by five (61-56) with 10 minutes remaining.
The first three points of the final quarter came off another trey from Boykova, and the TWolves trailed by two. After a single Becker free-throw, Filatova hit a layup for UNBC, and the gap was one. Victoria held firm though as Becker sunk one from the line and de Paiva made a jumper, pushing their lead back to four.
Back came the TWolves as Fuller delivered their 11th three of the night, pushing UNBC back within one yet again. Victoria responded with a Natalie Allison layup off an offensive rebound, giving them a 67-64 lead. The next three points on the night came from Sigue who hit a jumper and a free-throw, pushing the Vikes lead to multiple possessions. Despite a late three from Amrit Manak and the eighth field goal of the night from Boykova, the TWolves just couldn’t regain the lead and fell 73-69.
It was an effort to be proud of for Shchepotkin’s club who now sits at 1-2 while the VIkes improved their record to 2-1.
The glaring stat of the night was the gap in free-throw opportunities as the Vikes finished the night with 44 chances (27/42) while the TWolves had just two free-throws in response.
Luckily for the TWolves, they’ll get another crack at the Vikes tomorrow at 5 p.m. in a rematch which can be seen via Canada West TV.