Women's Weekend Recap: You Blue It

Shooting has been hard to come by for the Mariners, especially in recent weeks. Against the best defensive team in the conference, Tony Bryce's team faces a tall task.

Friday - VIU 63, Capilano 53

Wanna see the Mariners beat the Blues at their own game?

An even, if low-scoring first quarter saw the Mariners stonewall the Blues, then finish the second quarter on a 16-6 run.

VIU's defense would hold strong throughout the second half while their offense found their form from seasons past. A pair of Lucia Lopez free throws put Capilano within three, but they would never get any closer. A fast break layup from Sammy Shields gave the Mariners just large enough of a lead to cruise to a victory.

Four of VIU's starters eclipsed double digits, including Sammy Shields, who finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and six steals.

Maddy Coffin led all scorers with 14 points, but no one else on the Blues got higher than Barcha Hnizdilova with nine.

Saturday - VIU 62, Capilano 48

Wanna see them do it again?

This game played out eerily similar to Friday as the Mariners raced out an early lead, but the Blues scored six points in three seconds, including a buzzer beater from Barcha Hnizdilova, to cut the lead to three going into the half.

Hnizdilova gave Capilano a 34-33 lead halfway through the third quarter, but a layup from Kiayra Hohlweg twelve seconds later started a VIU run. The Mariners controlled the perimeter all half, earning the weekend sweep in decisive fashion.

Hohlweg had another strong showing, scoring 13 points and grabbing all but one of VIU's offensive rebounds, but VIU's bench was the x-factor. Kaia Simpson led all scorers with 17 points, while Aysia Kumar had her first big game, scoring 10 points on 5-7 shooting.

Barcha Hnizdilova and Maddy Coffin led the way for Capilano with 13 and 10 points respectively, but their meager bench output from Friday managed even less as Mia Parkin led every other Blue with eight.

The Mariners head into their first bye week tied with Douglas for the top spot in the conference before a matchup with Camosun the week after.