The defence didn't rest for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women's basketball team.

It was certainly tested, but ultimately the defence closed the door as the Horns opened the 2022-23 Canada West with a wild 72-71 win over the Victoria Vikes at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.
The Pronghorns went on a 13-point run to start the third quarter and open up a 53-38 lead, but the Ashlyn Day–paced Vikes battled back to close the gap and pull even at 69-69 with 2:10 to go on a layup from Mimi Sigue.
But a Jessica Haenni three-pointer put the Horns back up by three with 1:30 to go and while the Vikes were able to pull within one, the hosts were able to hang on for the win as Lethbridge started the season at 1-0.

"I'm really happy with that one because I think it was a defensive effort," said Pronghorns head coach Dave Waknuk. "I think the defence led to the offence and I think at times when we opened up the offence, the defence was at its best. We had a few lapses and against a good team they're going to make shots, but defensively at the end we made the plays when we had to make them and that's what we needed. We're happy with that as a start. We still have things to clean up, obviously. But I'm really happy with the defensive effort."

Haenni led the Pronghorns with 22 points, while Haily Weaver added 20 and eight rebounds, earning Player of the Game honours for Lethbridge.
Millay Johnson added 12 points for the Horns.
Haenni also had four steals and Johnson chipped in with eight assists.
Day led the Vikes with 28 points, while Kate Johnson and Sigue added 13 and 12, respectively.

A 13-point run allowed the Horns to erase a 26-20 deficit and move up 33-36.
Weaver drew a basket and a foul to move the Pronghorns up 27-26 before three-pointers from Piper Dobbelsteyn and Weaver paced Lethbridge to a 33-26 lead.
A Day bucket from beyond the arc handed the Vikes a 34-33 lead late in the first half, but another three-pointer, this one from Johnson handed the Horns the lead back, moving the hosts up 36-34.
The Pronghorns took a 40-36 lead into halftime thanks to a buzzer beating two from Haenni.

Then the Pronghorns put together another run to pad their lead early in the third quarter.

"We talk about roles a lot on our team," said Weaver. "So we know as older players and leaders that when things are tough for this team we have to step up and we take that pretty seriously and sometimes that's scoring and sometimes that's rebounding."

As expected, the Vikes clawed back and deadlocked the game 69-69 late in the fourth quarter.

"We did have a lead and they closed it," said Weaver. "They're a great team. But our team came together and we played how we wanted to play. We played with each other and kept each other composed. We just stuck to what we know we're best at."

Waknuk stressed relaxing and getting the tempo the Pronghorns wanted as the Vikes drew closer in the dying minutes.
"We had to play to our pace, not to their pace. When we sped up and panicked and tried to do too much, we were playing to how they wanted to play (It was) trying to find that tempo through the defensive end, which is rotating and being tough on the ball and communicating on defence. For us, we knew that size was an issue and for us to out-rebound them was big. So I think that really set the tone for us, getting rebounds and offensive rebounds when we could. I think all of that came together. But really, it was being the best version of ourselves, take a deep breath and let the defence do the work."

Meanwhile, Haenni and Weaver put in a veteran performance at both ends of the court.

"That's the benefit of having two special fifth-years," said Waknuk. "We know we have them and at times they bail us out. I think we can't always expect them to do it, but we're sure happy when they do and I think those two have put a lot of work in and you can see that, now confident they were all game. Those two are going to be a big part of our success and they have been a big part for the past couple of years. I'm really happy to see them both have success and I think they do other stuff than score. Haily played so well defensively and Jessica made a lot of decisions down the stretch that were great. It's the little things they add plus that scoring."

The Pronghorns now look for the sweep back at the 1st Choice Savings Centre Saturday night. Game time is 5 p.m.

The Horns will once again look to contain Day if they want the 2-0 start to the season.

"She's a special player," said Waknuk. "She's a legitimate scorer and we knew that coming in. So when she had 17 (points) at the half it was like 'OK, here we go.' But I thought we made her looks tougher. She still scored, but we made them a lot tougher and we knew they wanted to go to her. In the third quarter she didn't get a point. She got going again in the fourth, but I thought we did a better job to help get the defence ready for her and we didn't lose her. I think any time you lose her and give a quality player like that a shot, it's going to be a tough one to respond (to)."

The Pronghorns shot 47.7 per cent from the field, 40.9 per cent on three-pointers and 12.5 per cent from the free throw line.
The Vikes shot 39.1 per cent from the field, 28 per cent from beyond the arc and 58.8 per cent on free throws.