EDMONTON – The Regina Cougars open the 2017-18 Canada West women's basketball regular season this weekend as the conference's team to beat, according to the annual pre-season coaches polls. Manitoba Bisons are ranked 15th.
Friday marks the start of the CW season, as a full slate of games begins the road to the revamped CW Championship, and ultimately the U SPORTS Final 8 tournament, which will be hosted in Regina March 8-11. The event is returning to the Saskatchewan capital for the first time since 2012-13.
Regina is the heaviest of favourites heading into the new CW season, as the Cougars earned every first-place vote available to them. Coming off the conference's best record a year ago (17-3), the Queen City crew bring a veteran side to the table. With a nationals berth already in the bag by virtue of hosting the U SPORTS tournament March 8-11, Regina will have the luxury of focussing on the process this season.
While the CW standings won't dictate whether Regina is competing for a national title come March, the Cougars certainly won't be looking to coast through their CW schedule. Regina is poised to take aim at the program's second-ever Canada West banner, after previously capturing CW gold in 2000-01, following their transition from the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
Regina returns a strong contingent from a year ago, including CW Rookie of the Year Kyanna Giles, but no player will be more important to the Cougars than fifth-year forward Charlotte Kot. The veteran wasn't supposed to be in the picture this year for the Cougars, but after an injury ended her season just three games into 2016-17, the Regina native will now lead her team into a hometown national championship tournament.
REVISED RPI FORMULA
RPI was used a season ago for playoff seeding purposes in both CW men's and women's basketball. Again this season, RPI will be used to seed playoff teams, while win/loss records will be used to determine playoff qualification – just as it was a season ago. The CW RPI was implemented for the 2016-17 campaign to account for varying strengths of schedules, resulting from the conference's unbalanced schedule.
While RPI remains, the formula used in 2016-17 doesn't. Alterations have been made to the RPI formula, following review by Canada West's sport committee. The new formula, listed below, has been amended to both increase the value of a team's win/loss record, while reducing the value assigned for away wins and increasing the value for home wins.
RPI formula
The formula used in 2016-17 was:
RPI = 25% team winning percentage (WP) x 1.2 away win + 0.8 home win, 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponent's average winning percentage (OOWP).
The formula that will be used in 2017-18, with changes in bold, is:
RPI = 35% team winning percentage (WP) x 1.1 away win + 0.9 home win, 40% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponent's average winning percentage (OOWP).
NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT
In addition to the altered RPI formula, a new playoff format is also coming to CW basketball this season, as the conference eliminated the CW Final Four tournament in favour of a one-game championship hosted by the highest remaining seed.
The number of playoff teams (12) has not changed from last season. The first round of conference playoffs will see the top four seeds earn byes, while the remaining eight teams will play single-elimination games (12 @ 5, 11 @ 6, 10 @ 7, and 9 @ 8) between February 8 and 11.
The conference quarter-finals (best-of-threes) are set for February 15-18, the CW semis (best-of-three) February 22-25, and finally the CW Finals (and bronze medal games if necessary to determine national tournament berths) March 2 or 3.
The U SPORTS Final 8 tournaments are slated for March 8-11 this season, with the University of Regina set to host the women's event, and the Halifax Metro Centre set to welcome the men's event. Canada West is guaranteed three women's berths, with the host Regina Cougars welcoming two additional CW teams, while two men's teams are guaranteed a trip to the Maritimes for a shot at national glory.
Once again this season, every CW regular season and playoff basketball game will be available online at Canada West TV. You can watch the games by purchasing a Canada West TV pass here.
2017 CW women's basketball pre-season coaches poll
Place / Team / Points (First-place votes)
- Regina / 256 (16)
- Saskatchewan / 241 (1)
- Alberta / 223
- UBC / 193
- Calgary / 184
- Winnipeg / 174
- Trinity Western / 172
- Brandon / 150
- Victoria / 144
- UNBC / 128
- Fraser Valley / 116
- Lethbridge / 91
- Thompson Rivers / 62
- MacEwan / 58
- Manitoba / 44
- Mount Royal / 40
- UBC Okanagan / 35
NOTES: First-place vote worth 16 pts., second-place worth 15 pts. etc.
MANITOBA BISONS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - 2017-18 SEASON PREVIEW
2016-17 CW regular season record: 4-16, 14th (14th in RPI)
2016-17 post-season record: DNQ
Last CW championship / total CW championships: /
Last U SPORTS championship / total U SPORTS championships: 1996-97 / 3
2016-17 CW regular season ranks:
Offence: 62.7 PPG, T-11th
Defence: 74.7 PPG, 17th
2016-17 CW regular season leaders:
Points per game: 12.7 – Taylor Randall, G
Assists per game: 1.9 – Brittanie Parisien, G
Rebounds per game: 7.3 – Nicole Konieczny, G
Blocks per game: 0.7 – Emma Thompson, F
Key additions (name / position / eligibility / hometown / last team):
Claire Harvey / F / 4 / Winnipeg, Man. / Fort Richmond Centurions
Montana Kinzel / G / 3 / Winnipeg, Man. / Linden Christian Wings
Dana Inglis / F / 1 / Winnipeg, Man. / Shaftesbury Titans
Deidre Bartlett / G / 1 / Winnipeg, Man. / Oak Park Raiders
Alexis Kenyeres / G / 1 / Dundas, Ont. / Blessed Sacrament
Key losses (name / position / hometown / years with program):
Rebecca Potter / F / Winnipeg, Man. / 5
Cara Neufeld /F / Winnipeg, Man. / 2
Key performer:
Emma Thompson
Forward
3rd-year
Calgary, Alta.
The Bisons look to rise up and compete for a playoff spot this season with returning veterans and a good recruiting class in the mix.
Bison third-year forward Emma Thompson will be leaned upon to be one of the primary scorers on the squad this season. Going into her sophomore season, the Calgary native was third on the team with 9.7 points per game, but showed her versatility as she contributed in numerous ways while playing multiple positions. She is expected to do even more in 2017-18.
Thompson was also the team leader in blocks, second in three-point shooting, third in rebounds, and third on the Herd in minutes played last season. She is 5'11" multi-talented player that will wreck havoc on both ends of the court and should be in line for a breakout season at the conference level in her junior season.
