WBB: Semifinal Preview
UBC hosts Regina on Friday, while undefeated Saskatchewan welcomes Calgary on Saturday
Article by Brian Swane, special to CW
Feb. 20, 2026 – The 2025-26 Canada West women’s basketball regular season featured 17 teams. Twelve advanced to the playoffs. Last week, the play-in round narrowed the field to eight, and the quarterfinals cut that total in half.
Now just four teams remain, as the 2026 Canada West women’s hoops playoffs progress with semifinal games this week.
The top-seeded UBC Thunderbirds face the Regina Cougars in Vancouver on Friday (Feb. 20) before the three-time defending champion Saskatchewan Huskies meet the Calgary Dinos in Saskatoon on Saturday (Feb. 21). The winners advance to the next week’s championship final.
Every game will be available to stream live on CanadaWest.TV – Powered by BioSteel.
Game recaps, highlights and schedule information is available at WinTheWest.ca.
No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds (16-4 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) vs. No. 4 Regina Cougars (17-3 regular season, 1-0 playoffs)
Friday, Feb. 20 | 6 p.m. PST | War Memorial Gym at Vancouver, B.C.
The Thunderbirds hit the semifinal round on an absolute tear, having not tasted defeat since November. UBC won its last 11 games of the regular season, then rallied to beat the Alberta Pandas 75-69 in the quarterfinal round at War Memorial Gym last week. Regina, for its part, has been almost unstoppable on the road, going 10-1, with its only loss coming to the unbeaten Huskies.
This is a match-up of strengths. The Thunderbirds surrendered the second fewest points in Canada West during the regular season, allowing only 52.4 per game, and gave up more than 55 points only once during their 11-0 stretch to close the regular season. Regina was the third highest scoring team during the regular season, averaging 72.4 points per game, with 20 of those of points coming from beyond the arc, where the Cougars shot a blistering 31.5% on three-pointers this season.
Offensively, UBC is led by guard Olivia Weekes, who averaged 16.8 points in the regular season and scored a game-high 21 points in her team’s quarterfinal victory, earning Canada West Player of the Week honours. Regina is powered by the duo of fifth-year guards Cara Misskey and Jade Belmore, who average 14.9 points and 14.7 points, respectively, in the regular season, and combined for 40 points in the Cougars’ 74-48 home victory over UBC Okanagan in the quarterfinal last week. Misskey was named a Canada West First Team All-Star on Thursday, while Belmore earned a Second Team nod.
While they did not cross paths during the 2025-26 regular season, this is the second straight year that UBC and Regina are meeting in the playoffs. The Thunderbirds bested Regina 77-55 in the Canada West quarterfinal in Vancouver on Feb. 22, 2025.
No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies (20-0 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) vs. No. 6 Calgary Dinos (16-4 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
Saturday, Feb. 21 | 7 p.m. CST | Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon, Sask.
Saskatchewan beat the UFV Cascades 96-58 at the Physical Activity Centre in the quarterfinal round last week, extending its win to 42 straight games in Canada West regular season and playoff competition. The last team to beat the Huskies, however, is the one they’ll face Saturday: the Dinos won back-to-back games at home against Saskatchewan on the opening week of the 2024-25 season.
This season was a tour de force for the Huskies, who ranked in Canada West for most points scored (83.3 per game), fewest points allowed (51.8 per game), highest field goal percentage (.446), rebounding margin (+11.9 per game), as well as offensive efficiency (1.080) and net efficiency (0.402).
Calgary was the lone team to win a quarterfinal game on the road last week, knocking off the host Trinity Western Spartans by a score of 76-47 after opening the postseason with a 91-67 play-in over the Manitoba Bisons in Langley.
The road has been good to the Dinos, who went 7-2 away from their home court during the regular season. Calgary will need to bring that Road Warrior mentality against a Huskies team that hasn’t suffered a loss at the Physical Activity Complex in almost 25 months.
The Dinos and Huskies played twice in Saskatoon last month, with Saskatchewan winning both contests by an average margin of 25 points. Since then, the Dinos have reeled off six consecutive victories to punch their ticket to the semifinals for the first time in three years.