WINNIPEG – Under head coach
Michele Sung, the Manitoba Bisons women's basketball team (9-11) are headed to the playoffs for the third straight season.
As an 11-seed, they will play the 6-seed Winnipeg Wesmen (12-8) at the Duckworth Centre on Friday in a Valentine's Day matchup that will be anything but a love-in. The single elimination game is a Canada West play in, with the winner qualifying for the quarterfinals and semifinals — which take place between February 21-23.
While the Wesmen swept the annual home-and-home in women's basketball (73-56, 90-83) during the regular season, Manitoba is on a late season bump after sweeping the Brandon Bobcats. A road matchup close to home also means an extended practice week, which the Bisons will take full advantage of as they try to qualify for the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
The leader of Manitoba's offence all season has been fourth-year guard
Taylor Randall. The Dundas, ON native finished fifth in conference scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game in 32.7 minutes per contest.
Randall had one of her best games of the season in Winnipeg's gym earlier this year, when she scored 28 points and shot 6-for-12 from three-point range on November 23. She is also coming off one of her most efficient contests on February 8 against Brandon, as she made 9-of-15 field goals to finish with 23 points.
Besides Randall, Bisons role players to watch for include fourth-year forward
Addison Martin, who's been on a tear since the beginning of 2020. Martin has scored in double digits in five of the last six games and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game, 2.9 coming on the offensive end.
The hot shooting first-year guard
Lauren Bartlett also made a mark this season, cracking the top 15 in Canada West record books for highest three-point shooting percentage in a single season, averaging 46.9% on 3.4 attempts per game. Bartlett has averaged 10.2 points per contest.
The winner of this game will travel to one-seed Calgary or two-seed Saskatchewan, who will host quarterfinal and semifinal matchups among the eight remaining teams from February 21-23.
DETAILS:
Friday, February 14 at Winnipeg Wesmen – 7 p.m. CT
Duckworth Centre – Winnipeg, MB
Canada West Standings
Conference Statistics
