Vanessa Botteselle closed out her Heat career with another outstanding performance but the Victoria Vikes came away victorious 97-62 on Saturday night in the Okanagan gym.
Botteselle had a team-high 18 points to go with six assists and four rebounds in her final game in a Heat uniform.
It was a similar script to the night prior, as Victoria game out scorching hot to start the game and built an early 23-8 advantage after the first quarter and would only build upon their advantage from there.
With the victory, the Vikes (10-8) move up to the eighth spot in the Canada West standings with two games remaining next weekend at home against MacEwan (6-12) and have already clinched a playoff spot.
UBCO finishes off their season with a 1-19 record as they have a bye in the final weekend of conference play but will return a strong squad for the 2019/2020 season.
Claire Feasby got the start for the home team and had her second-best scoring game in a Heat uniform as she had 14 points, including three makes from long-range.
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Katie Langdon was once again a force on the inside as the forward had 23 points on just 14 shot attempts along 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the Canada West season. Kelowna product Ashlyn Day had 19 points for the visitors while senior guard Amira Giannattasio had 16 points and four assists in the victory.
Victoria finished the game shooting 47 per cent from the field, including 40 per cent from deep and shared the ball all night long to the tune of 22 assists. The Heat attack shot 39 per cent from the field but just 29 per cent from three-point territory as they were unable to keep up with the Vikes offence.
Heat notes:
With her nine rebounds on the night, Jordan Korol became the first female player in program history to average a double-double for a season as the forward grabbed 204 rebounds this season in 20 games.
First half:
It was all Vikes early as they scored the opening 12 points on the night to build an early double-digit advantage. Claire Feasby did her best to keep the home team in it as she scored all eight of the Heat’s points in the opening 10 minutes as her team trailed 23-8 after one. Victoria continued to shoot the lights out to start the second as they led by as many as 26 points in the second quarter and went into the halftime break with the 47-25 lead. Katie Langdon had a double-double in the first half alone as she had 15 points and 10 rebounds through the opening 20 minutes of play.
Second half:
The second half was more Vikes as they shot 57 per cent in the third quarter alone, led by Amira Giannattasio who had 12 points in the third frame. Kelowna product Ashlyn Day had eight points in the quarter as the visitors led 75-42 heading to the final frame. The fourth quarter was a near formality as the game was all but out of reach for the Heat. Vanessa Botteselle would receive a loud ovation in her final home game for the Heat as she exited for the final time with under a minute to go in the fourth.
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