Big runs to start and finish the game helped the Winnipeg Wesmen end a losing streak and stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Canada West conference.
The Wesmen women’s basketball team snapped a 10-game losing streak and took down their biggest rival Saturday in a 77-67 win over the Manitoba Bisons at the Duckworth Centre.
The Wesmen own a 23-5 record over the Bisons since 2008 and they snapped a four-game losing streak to the Herd with the win.
More importantly, Winnipeg stayed in the hunt for the seventh playoff spot in the Prairie Division, moving one game back of Manitoba with four games to play.
The Wesmen outscored Manitoba 22-6 in the first quarter and, after the Bisons opened the scoring with a layup five seconds in, Winnipeg held them without a field goal for the next 8:21.
The lead jumped up to 17 early in the second and Manitoba then began to slowly chip away. The Bisons got it down to eight in the second quarter, but the Wesmen still managed to hold a 37-26 lead at the half.
The Bisons did their most damage in the third when they outscored the Wesmen 29-15 retaking the lead for the first time since the early moments of the first on a pair of Anna Miko free throws with 4:12 to go that made it 43-42. Manitoba pushed it to as high as six in the third before Jennifer Kallon’s three just before the buzzer cut the deficit to 55-52.
And after the third quarter went Manitoba’s way, the Wesmen returned the favour in the fourth with a 25-12 period that included a dominant stretch of 6:28 in which they held the Bisons without a field goal and went on a 15-2 run.
Jennifer Kallon led all scorers with 18 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Jazmin Birch added 15 and eight rebounds.
Darya Rom’s 13 points topped the Bisons and Emerson Martin added 12.
