WBB: Do or die playoffs tip off Friday

by Brian Swane, special to CW

The Canada West women’s basketball playoffs are returning to a more traditional format in 2023, with action commencing Friday and continuing Saturday at host sites in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon.

Every playoff game is single elimination.

Competition opens with teams seeded fifth through twelfth squaring off during the play-in round. The winners of those games will then join the top four seeds in the quarter-finals. When the dust settles before weekend’s end, just four teams will be left standing, each having punched tickets to the semifinal round on Feb. 24-25.

To stay up-to-date on all the action, visit Championship Central.

WATCH

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MATCH-UPS

Site 1: Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon, SK

#8 UBC Thunderbirds (11-9) vs. #9 UBC Okanagan Heat (10-10)

#1 University of Saskatchewan Huskies (17-3) vs. #8/#9 winner

UBC has captured the Valerie Girsberger Trophy seven times while UBCO hasn’t so much as won a single Canada West women’s basketball playoff game, but Friday could be the night that little sibling prevails in the battle of British Columbia universities. ​ The Heat have made major strides the last two years, reaching the postseason for the first time in 2022, and now returning to the dance after equalling a program record with 10 regular season wins. After joining Canada West in 2012-13, the Heat lost their first 14 regular season meetings with the T-Birds, but have since won three of five against UBC, including splitting a pair of games in Vancouver last month.

Whichever B.C. squad wins the play-in game will be in tough against Huskies, who have won eight Canada West titles since 2010, including three in a row and five of the last six. The Huskies were a perfect 10-0 at the PAC in 2022-23 and haven’t lost a postseason game at home since February 2018.

Site 2: Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport in Regina, SK

#7 Trinity Western Spartans (12-8) vs. #10 University of Victoria Vikes (9-11)

#2 University of Regina Cougars (17-3) vs. #7/#10 winner

TWU and Victoria went head-to-head in a pair of thrillers on Vancouver Island at the end of November, and while the visiting Spartans won both games, their two victories came only by a combined margin of nine points. The Spartans have a tendency for tight contests: only two of their 20 games in 2022-23 were decided by more than 12 points, while 10 had a margin of six points or fewer. Victoria, meanwhile, finished the season scoring virtually as many points as it allowed, 69.4 to 69.0 per game.

While neither Victoria nor TWU was on its schedule, Regina’s women’s hoops team didn’t meet an opponent they couldn’t beat this season, including the top-seeded Huskies, who in 2022-23 went 17-1 against the rest of Canada West but lost both of their games to the Cougars. Regina did not lose a game in regulation time at home this season.

Site 3: Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, AB

#6 University of Winnipeg Wesmen (15-5) vs. #11 Mount Royal University Cougars (9-11)

#3 University of Calgary Dinos (13-7) vs. #6/#11 winner

Winnipeg and MRU are set to do battle for a second consecutive postseason, with the Wesmen hoping for a result not unlike 12 months ago. The Wesmen bested the Cougars 77-65 in the second round of the 2022 Canada West playoffs and went on to reach the championship final before falling to the Huskies. This was Winnipeg’s fifth season in the top eight with a win percentage of .700 or higher, while the improving Cougars finished the regular season above .500 for the first time since joining Canada West in 2012-13, thanks to an 8-4 record since returning from the holiday break.

Calgary, meanwhile, won only four of its last nine games after starting 9-2, but earned a bye through the play-in round thanks to a strong RPI that ranked higher than that of teams with more wins including Winnipeg. The Dinos split a pair of matches with Winnipeg at the beginning of January and took two from MRU in their last games of the regular season last Friday and Saturday.

Site 4: Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, AB

#5 University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (14-6) vs. #12 UNBC Timberwolves (8-12)

#4 University of Alberta Pandas (15-5) vs. #5/#12 winner

This was the Cascades’ third consecutive season finishing with at least 14 wins, but they haven’t been able to parlay their strong campaigns into playoff success in either 2020 or 2022, losing out in the quarterfinal both years. UFV appears to have a favourable play-in match-up, having won a pair of games by a cumulative 44 points against UNBC in November. But the rapidly improving Timberwolves haven’t lost consecutive games since then, winning eight of their last 14 after an 0-6 start.

Should they defeat UNBC, the Cascades face a tough task to finally get past the quarter-finals. Alberta has won 11 straight games at the Saville Community Sports Centre, and eight of the Pandas’ last nine nine home victories have come by at least 23 points. Alberta has never lost to UNBC, but is 2-2 all-time in the postseason against UFV.