Brent Mutis
CapU sport info
Nanaimo was an inhospitable place for the Capilano Blues in late October and it began with Blues women's basketball dropping both ends of its PACWEST doublehearder against the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners.
In a Thursday-Friday set necessitated by VIU's hosting duties for the 2023 PACWEST soccer championship, the Mariners women's hoopers earned wins both nights by scores of 60-55 Thursday and 68-41 Friday. CapU ended up going 0-for-5 in Nanaimo on the weekend, including the men's basketball results and a loss for Blues women's soccer to Douglas College in the PACWEST title game Sunday at VIU
Thursday's opener on the hardwood was somewhat reminiscent of the Blues showing at the PACWEST title game in March against VIU where shots were just not falling. Capilano wound up shooting 27.8 per cent from the field and only 17.2 per cent from three (5-of-29). The second quarter was emblematic of of the evening as the Blues scored nine points on 3-of-22 shooting, Teigan Manson had five of those points from two buckets and Sereena Hothi was the only other CapU player to make a field goal.
Despite the cold streak shooting the ball, the Blues trailed by only nine at half and drew even with their best quarter of the game in the third, led by Kirsten Abo's 11 points. Unfortunately, the taps ran cold again in the fourth and VIU pulled away to win their third straight to start the season.
The Mariners improved to 4-0 Friday with a balanced attack led by Mackenzie Cox and Kaia Simpson who each scored in double digits. CapU got 14 points and eight boards from rookie forward Barcha Hnizdilova but again barely cracked 20 per cent shooting on the night. VIU held the Blues to single-digit scoring in the first and fourth quarters and were in command the whole way.
Alanya Davignon had two steals and two assists to go along with three rebounds coming off the bench Friday.
Next up for the Blues is a Friday-Saturday road set at Douglas College Nov. 3 and 4. Friday's game is a 6 p.m. start with tip off at 4 p.m. Saturday.
