Cassandra Goodis is the floor general for the Unversity of Victoria Vikes basketball team.
Goodis, a third-year Vike, never had to wait long to make an impact on the court as women’s coach Danielle Sinclair said Goodis was a key from the beginning.
“She was able to come in and lead us,” said Sinclair, adding that Goodis is a skilled and smart player. “She can go out there and get us organized and run the offence.”
Sinclair recalls a situation during a game when she called in the players to create a special play and Goodis had already thought of one.
“She reads the game well, like another coach,” said Sinclair. “She is able to picks things up quickly because she understands the game.”
The Vikes opened the season against the UBC-O Heat and won 88-78. Goodis finished with nine points, eight assists and three steals. The Vikes defeated the Heat again 83-64 and Goodis finished with 10 assists. The Vikes are now 6-2 in Canada West action in Canadian Interuniversity Sport and riding a four-game winning streak. They sit second in the Pacific Division.
Sinclair said Goodis is a huge key on both sides of the court, but is more dangerous on the offensive end. She likes to be generous thinking pass first. However, she’s also a great scorer, who is known to net timely baskets.
“She’s very capable of putting up 20 points a game,” said Sinclair.
Well-liked among her teammates, Goodis can be hard to read because she’s quiet.
Working with Goodis since her rookie season, Sinclair has gotten to know the player off the court. She describes the former Pen High Laker as being caring of teammates.
“Very motivated and intent on doing well for herself and the team,” said Sinclair.
Goodis’ highest scoring game this season was on Nov. 23 collecting 19 points against the University of Alberta in a 77-70 win. Goodis also added eight assists and six steals in 40 minutes of action.
Sinclair’s only expectation of Goodis is for her to be a leader. Being a third-year player, Sinclair is demanding more.
The Vikes coach also wants to see Goodis take care of the ball and improve her assist-to-turnover ratio. Goodis is second in the conference with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio and leads the Vikes in defensive rebounds (5.8 average per game), assists (5.0 average per game) and steals (2.5 average per game.)
Goodis, who last season averaged 10.3 points per game in nearly 34 minutes and 4.4 rebounds per game, has also formed a dynamic duo with Jessica Renfrew.
“Jess is a good athlete who likes to run the floor,” said Sinclair. “Cassandra is good at finding her. They often pair up a lot for fast break lay-ups. They have played together for so long they have that connection. It’s been good for us.”
That will help the Vikes as they strive to make the playoffs after missing them for the first time in 10 years last season.