Box Score LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western made their return to the Langley Events Centre on Friday, in their home opener against Victoria.
 
The game started quickly as the Spartans (2-0) and Victoria Vikes (0-1) trading blows early on. Victoria's size limited the Spartans offensively, forcing the team to rely on pace and shooting.
 
Jolene Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) and Kianna Wiens (Regina, Sask.) were up to the difficult task posed by Victoria, getting on the board with two 3-pointers to keep the the Spartans in the mix against the physical Vikes. Wiens started hot, scoring 10 points on a perfect 3/3 from the field.
 
The first quarter of action ended with Victoria's captain Aleah Ashlee hitting a buzzer-beating mid-range shot to put the Vikes in front 18-17.


The second quarter was entirely different from the first, shifting the game to a defensive battle. Nicole Fransson (Edmonton) reached three fouls before the half, putting first-year Gracie Corneau (Abbotsford, B.C.) in a position to play big minutes. Corneau responed well, holding off the Vikes' post players and crashing the board.
 
The Spartans were outscored 6-9 in the second period of play with Vlieg scoring all six the Spartans had to offer.
 
The beginning of the second half saw the Spartans score jump to a 11-0 run to put them in a 34-27 lead after a low-scoring second quarter with Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) leading the charge.
 
The visiting Vikes were unwilling to roll over as Ashlyn Day started to fill up the scoresheet, putting UVIC on an 11-0 run over their own.
 
After the series of runs put on by both teams, the game reinstated itself as a boxing-match between the two Canada West sides, trading blows on every possession with neither team giving up any easy buckets to their opponent. The quarter ended at 44-43 in favour of the Spartans, which would set up for an entertaining fourth quarter to come.
 
The Spartans started to find a rhythm in the beginning of the fourth after Jolene Vlieg charged through the paint to score an and-1 basket. Energy gradually filled the gym as both sides continued in their spirited affair.
 
With the home opener on the line, the Spartans slowly inched closer to victory. Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C) came in clutch for the Spartans, scoring a crucial 3-pointer in the eye of her defender to put TWU in the lead 56-49.
 
Though the momentum had shifted, UVIC refused to go down without a fight. The Vikes answered back with nine of their own points, putting them up 58-56 with two minutes left on the clock.
 
Jolene Vlieg answered back, drawing a foul to hit two free-throws for a tie ballgame. Vlieg's crucial shots weren't enough to send the game to overtime as UVIC's Aleah Ashlee seemingly sunk the Spartans with a game-winning layup.
 
Nicole Fransson tied the game with only four seconds left on the clock, rebounding a missed shot by Kianna Wiens to put it home at the game's end, forcing overtime at the Langley Events Centre.
 
The buzzing home crowd carried their excitement from Fransson's game-tying basket into overtime, fuelling the Spartans to close out the game.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans now move to 14-44 all-time against UVIC with Friday's win.
• TWU's starting five were excellent down the stretch. Each player had major contributions in Friday's victory on, and off the scoresheet. The starters, that being Jolene Vlieg, Kianna Wiens, Nicole Fransson, Jayden Gill, and Shemaiah Abatayo, combined for all of TWU's 73 points.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"This is too much excitement for one weekend! There were little stretches where we had to make pushes at the right time, and there were so many things we could have gotten caught up in. We still pushed through foul trouble, and Jayden (Gill) going down. We're really grateful for her being ok. So much resilience from this group early in the season, which is something we can definitely build on.
 
"We're playing a split trip, which means two different teams we had to prep for. It wasn't pretty, but we definitely found our rhythm down the stretch of tonight's game.

UP NEXT
The Spartans head to Victoria to play the Vikes two more times on Nov. 12^th and 13^th.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-