Box Score Written by: John Gaudes

WINNIPEG  - After losing a pair of one-goal games to them in the first half of the season, the Bisons women's hockey team were looking for revenge against the #8-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday, January 3 at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

It was another close battle, but on their home ice Manitoba was able to prevail 2-1 in overtime. The Bisons move to 10-5-2 with the win, while the Huskies fall to 11-3-3.

Manitoba was led by another great home game for Kyleigh Palmer, who had both her team's goals to give her a team-leading nine on the year. Protecting her net, Dée-Ana Marion had 18 saves in the win.

Saskatchewan's lone goal was scored by Kaitlin Willoughby, her ninth of the year, with assists from Alyssa Dobler and Cami Wooster. They also got a solid effort from goalie Cassidy Hendricks, who finished with 29 hard-fought saves.

Thanks to an early Huskies penalty, the Bisons opportunities got started early. Solid play from Hendricks, though, kept Manitoba at bay - her toe save on a scrum with two Bisons sticks saved her team from going down in the first three minutes. Both defences stiffened through the rest of the period, as the two teams went into their dressing rooms scoreless.

An even tighter second period gave way to goals late, as both teams got on the board while on the power play. Manitoba was first, as Amy Lee pushed a pass in the slot to Palmer at the 15:37 mark, who shelved the goal to put the Bisons up first. Saskatchewan, though, answered in the dying seconds - with just half a second on the clock, Wooster took a big rebound at the side of the net and put it back in to tie the game.

Invigorated by their late period goal, the Huskies came out and controlled most of the third - skating harder and defensively keeping the Bisons from the puck control they enjoyed through the first 40 minutes. Despite this, Manitoba had one big chance with three minutes to go, but Hendricks shut the door - first on a straight-away wrist shot from Palmer, then on the rebound from Maggie Litchfield-Medd.

In extra time, Manitoba closed the deal, as a slapshot from Caitlin MacDonald rebounded hard off the end boards and ended up loose in front of the net for Palmer to bury and give the Bisons the win.

The Bisons women's hockey team finish their home back-to-back against Saskatchewan on Saturday, January 4th, with a 6 p.m. puck drop at Wayne Fleming Arena.