Archive photo courtesy Bob Frid / UBC Athletics: Leanne Evans scored a game-high 20 points in Friday's win by the T-Birds

VICTORIA - The defending champion UBC Thunderbirds halted the UVic Vikes women's basketball team's nine-game win streak with a 57-54 victory in Game 1 of the Pacific Division semifinals.

UBC survived a wild finish at McKinnon Gym to take a 1-0 series lead, forcing the Vikes into a must-win situation on Saturday. Leanne Evans won the battle of the bigs over Vikes star Kayla Dykstra, scoring 20 points, adding seven 'boards, and making six blocks. Dykstra finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Vikes led early but a lapse before the end of the first half cost them the lead. UBC scored 10 unanswered points to put the Vikes on their heels with a 31-24 halftime lead. The T-Birds managed to hold the lead through the final two frames despite a valiant comeback effort by the home side.

A couple of three-pointers from Michelle Lee, and a rare one from Dykstra, made it a one-possession game in the final minute of regulation. Then in the final seconds Jane Anholt had a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line. She made the first two but missed the third, but the Vikes still had life after a pair of T-Birds missed free-throws. However, Zara Huntley was there to pick up the offensive board and score an easy put-back to take the series lead.

Evans inspired confidence amongst the young UBC squad with the senior's defensive showing holding Dykstra off the scoresheet in the middle frames. On the other end of the floor she potted a game high 20 points after shooting 9-16.

Dykstra came out strong, scoring eight points in the first quarter, but UBC adjusted to deny the post entry and wound up forcing turnovers. The Vikes made 23 turnovers, but did manage to force 22 off their pressure defence. Dykstra shared the Vikes high in scoring with Michelle Lee and Ashley Yee, netting 13 apiece. Lee was 5-10 with three three-pointers and Yee was 6-11.

The loss was the Vikes first homecourt defeat since UBC took a 74-70 decision back on November 7th. The women's playoff series is the first McKinnon Gym has hosted since 2004, and the Vikes will need a win Saturday night to keep their record season alive. Tip-off is 7 p.m. and the action can be viewed online at: www.govikesgo.com/broadcast