LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans saw their come-from-behind victory fall short as the Victoria Vikes hit a three-point basket at the buzzer to give Victoria a 62-60 win over the Spartans Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 10-5 in Canada West Conference play, while the win improves the Vikes to 7-7.
 
The Spartans trailed for 35 minutes of the game, with their biggest deficit at 14 points six minutes into the second half. But TWU was able to take a 60-59 lead with six seconds remaining on a Moriah Jansen (first-year, forward, Spallumcheen, B.C.) lay-up. But the Vikes were able to get the win when Eden Henderson hit the winner with 0.3 seconds remaining.
 
Fourth-year guard Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 15 points and five rebounds, fourth-year forward Myrlaine Shelvey (Langley, B.C.) with 12 points and seven rebounds, and first-year guard Mavleen Chahal (Kelowna, B.C.) with 10 points and three rebounds led the Spartans. Eden Henderson with 15 points and five rebounds, and Abigail Becker with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, with three steals, and two blocks, led the Vikes.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Vikes will finish off the two-game series tomorrow afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Match time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul, TWU Head Coach
"The challenge for us, since the beginning of this semester, has been being able to rise to the occasion, and I think that our defence had some moments in the first part of the game. ?But we just couldn't capitalize on the offensive transition scoring looks that we got. I really don't think this game was won or lost by one shot at the end. It feels like that, obviously, because it's a disappointing way when you have a lead finally, and you give it up at the very end. ?But the reality is, we put ourselves in a very tricky situation by the time we got to the end of the game, because of things that we didn't finish well in the beginning part of the game."
 
"What I'd said to the team at halftime was that we're doing 60-70% of the job of every series. We get the defensive stop, we get a great transition push, and then we miss layups. ?So, we can't run anything else. When we are getting the exact looks that we want inside, without a defender between us and the rim. So, we talked about easy finishes hurting us the last time that we played this team, and easy finishes, I think, cost us the game today."
 
"It's not just one person; you have 10 to 16 missed points overall on undefended scoring looks. Now you're gonna have to make a Hail Mary catch and shoot at the very end of the game. So tough lesson to learn. ?In terms of intensity, we talked about how every game as we progress in the second semester is going feel closer and closer to what a playoff game feels like. You have to find a way to win multiple small battles at a time. And I don't think that we were able to put enough together today. ?When we finally got multiple shot-clock violations on them defensively, that was supposed to turn the tide. The unfortunate part is that we then responded with two or three easy misses in the fourth quarter. You can recover from some of those easy misses at the beginning of the game. But when you're still missing the easy stuff in the fourth quarter, you really don't give yourself a chance to win this game. ?So disappointing loss, obviously, but hopefully these are some lessons that we can learn from and get better from."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Vikes took control of the game in the opening quarter, leading the Spartans 17-11 after 10 minutes. The Spartans had a strong start to the second quarter and were able to cut the deficit to two points, 22-20, midway through the quarter. But were able to get a little more separation at the end of the quarter, leading by five points, 32-27 at the end of the half.
 
The Vikes were the better of the two teams early in the second half as Victoria took a 14-point 45-31 lead, just over four minutes into the quarter. But TWU battled back, and as the quarter ended, the Spartans had cut the deficit to five points, 47-42. The Vikes expanded their lead to nine points, 55-46, midway through the final quarter. The Spartans then took over and used a 14-4 run to take a one-point 60-59 lead with six seconds remaining. But Victoria's Henderson spoiled the Spartans' comeback with her last-second winner.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 32.8 percent (22-67) from the field, 25.0 percent (6-24) from the three-point line, and 62.5 percent (10-16) from the foul line, while Victoria shot 40.7 percent (24-59), 30 percent (3-10) and 61.1 percent (11-18) respectively.
• Victoria had a 47-39 edge in rebounds. While TWU had a 14-13 edge in steals and 15-8 in assists.
• The Spartans finished with 16 turnovers, while the Vikes finished with 27 turnovers.
• The Spartans are currently 21-50 lifetime against the Victoria Vikes.
• Earlier this season, the Spartans defeated the Vikes 76-67 in their Canada West home opener on October 24 at the CARSA in Victoria, B.C.
• Last week, the Spartans dropped two road games to the then No. 10 UBC Thunderbirds. Losing 85-55 and 58-45 at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C.
• Last week, the Vikes were swept at home by the Fraser Valley Cascades. Losing 73-57 and 68-60 in Victoria, B.C.
• The Spartans are led by Cassidy Buchanan, who is averaging 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
• Victoria is led by Abigail Becker, who is averaging 13 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  
 
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