WINNIPEG – Entering play against the Victoria Vikes with an identical win total of three, and fighting for the final playoff spot in the conference, it was the Manitoba Bisons who came out on top, 76-61 against UVic on Friday at IGAC.
 
Manitoba forced 15 steals and shot 36.4 percent from distance, paced by the third double-double in the career of Lauren Bartlett, who had 17 points and 11 assists (tied her career high), along with five steals.
 
Overall, the Herd shot 51.6 percent from the field, using stellar ball movement to evade a long Vikes lineup, with four of five starters over six feet tall.
 
Emerson Martin drained three triples to lead all Bisons, finishing with 17 points, while Emily Johnson and Emily Mandamin also finished in double figures for the hosts.
 
Victoria got 12 steals of their own, led by Sierra Reisig's three, but were doubled up in points off turnovers, at 26-13.
 
Offensively, 6'1" guard Tana Pankratz and 6'4" forward Abigail Becker combined for 39 of the Vikes points, shooting 36 of their team's 71 shots from the field.
 
"All week we had the mentality that playing against a bigger team with all those long arms, we really had to find a way through with our passes and pass it all around," said Bartlett.
 
"We had pretty good ball movement that way and had people cutting and looking to score, and putting it all together."
 
Manitoba led by five after ten, and didn't trail at any point in the contest. They were up by as much as 14 in the second, as Treyah Paquette scored five of her seven points in the quarter, including a triple.
 
But the Vikes battled back, out-scoring Manitoba 10-2 in the final four minutes to cut the lead to six at halftime.  
 
The pace was fast and furious all throughout, as the two sides combined for 19 steals entering the third. A Makena Anderson three, and two steals from Reisig that led to transition buckets helped UVic to narrow the deficit.
 
A jumper from Pankratz, followed by a steal and layup from the guard, and a Becker layup shortened the Bisons' lead to two in the first two minutes of the third, and UVic narrowed Manitoba's lead to two again midway through the third, but Manitoba responded.
 
They closed out the final five minutes on an 11-1 run to lead by 12 entering the fourth.
 
Johson, Paquette, Martin, Mandamin and Anna Miko all scored during the run, as Manitoba flexed their depth, with six different players scoring at least seven points. They led by double figures all through the fourth to close things out.
 
Both teams will play again tomorrow at 5 pm.