Basketball: UVic women add B.C. college MVP

The Victoria Vikes announced Tuesday that guard Carmen Lapthorne, who guided Camosun College to a provincial title and a berth at the Canadian collegiate championship, has come aboard for next season:

"We're fortunate to get player of this caliber, who can have an impact in our league right away. She has a high basketball IQ, great natural instincts, and an ability to flat-out shoot the ball." — UVic coach Brian Cheng (team release)

Lapthorne averaged 12.9 points and 3.1 assists for Camosun last season.

Everyone who played significant minutes for the 17-6 Vikes last season, including player of the year Kayla Dykstra. Cheng also has commitments from two of B.C.'s best frontcourt players, 6-footer Elyse Matthews and 5-foot-11 Allison Mulock.

Canada West basketball will be fun to follow with the new two-division format and cross-over playoffs. It opens it up for the teams who aren't the UBC men or Simon Fraser women.