The Mariners women’s basketball team sunk another win on Saturday to continue their winning streak.
The Vancouver Island University team faced the Camosun Chargers in Victoria, winning 55-45, improving to a 5-0 record this season.
Bill McWhinnie, coach of the Mariner women, said the team played a good defensive game, but struggled to score.
“We’re going to have to clean up our offence, improve our passing, screening and cutting,” he said.
He added that it’s early in the season and the team is still trying to find cohesion on the court.
“It’s a long process and building team chemistry doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.
Top scorers were Shayna Worthington with 15 points and nine rebounds and Jocelyn Jones with 13 points.
The men’s team also claimed victory on Saturday against the Chargers, winning 96-80 for a 4-1 season record.
Tony Bryce, VIU men’s coach, said the team moved the ball better and trusted the offence.
“We were much better offensively than we have been this year and we started to get a little bit of chemistry together,” said Bryce.
He said there are several new faces on the team and many of them are “big-minute kind of guys” and it takes a while for members to figure out how to work together.
Jacob Thom was a standout playerwith 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, said Bryce.
Other exceptional players included Richard Townsendgant with 18 points and nine rebounds, Patrick McCarthy with 13 points and four rebounds and Jason McKee with 11 points and two rebounds.
“The big bodies up front did a good job of controlling the paint,” said Bryce.
The men’s and women’s team have spent a lot of time on the court this week preparing for games against the University of B.C. Timberwolves Friday (Dec. 2) in Prince George.
The T-wolves are nipping at the heels of both teams in the standings, with the women currently ranked second with a 4-0 record and the men’s team is ranked third with a 3-1 record.
Bryce said the T-wolves are a “very difficult” team to beat on their home court and the VIU men are going to have to be disciplined to win.
“They play with exceptional energy. They like to get up and down the floor,” said Bryce about the wolves.
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