Basketball vs. Brandon – February 7 (6/8 PM), February 8 (5/7 PM)
WATCH: CanadaWest.TV
UPDATES: follow @BisonWBB and @BisonMBB on Twitter
A Trans-Canada rivalry renews at IGAC this weekend, as Bisons basketball hosts the Brandon Bobcats.
For the No. 9 ranked
Bisons men (15-3), clinching a top four seed and a first-round bye is at the top of mind. They can do so by splitting with Brandon (5-13), winning on either Friday or Saturday night. In order to move up into a top two seed in the conference, they need to win both games and for Calgary to lose once to Mount Royal or for Alberta to lose twice to Saskatchewan.
Bobcats first-year forward Anthony Tsegakele — a Canada West Rookie of the Year candidate — is certainly one to watch, as he averages 17.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Manitoba, meanwhile, is enjoying a resurgence in play from fifth-year guard
Rashawn Browne. Fifth in the conference in scoring at 19.4 points per game, Browne is coming off a 34-point outing in a win over the Victoria Vikes last Saturday — returning from being in and out of the lineup due to injury the previous two weekends.
The
Bisons women (7-11) are one win away from clinching a playoff berth for the third straight season, as they host a struggling Bobcats team (1-17).
While Manitoba has lost six straight, they have been right in games — losing two of their last three games by five points or less. Fourth-year guard
Taylor Randall scored 39 points in two games last weekend at Victoria, making four threes. The Bobcats have been led by Adrianna Proulx, their only player averaging double digits this season, who has also grabbed 5.4 rebounds and made 1.1 steals per game.
Bisons basketball tickets are $10 at the door, with UM students and fans 12-and-under in free! Join us as we honour graduating players Rashawn Browne and Emma Thompson, as both ceremonies will be between games on Saturday.
Women's Hockey vs. Alberta – February 7 (7 PM), February 8 (2 PM)
WATCH: CanadaWest.TV
LISTEN: UMFM second stream (Friday), UMFM 101.5 (Saturday)
UPDATES: follow @umbisonsWHKY on Twitter
While a four-goal third period last Saturday helped the Bisons beat Saskatchewan and keep their playoff hopes alive, those hopes were dashed later by a UBC win — as the post-season is officially out of reach for the Manitoba women (7-16-2-1).
Still, a late season march has seen them win two of four as they host the No. 5 ranked Alberta Pandas (18-7-1-0) in a matchup that always features fireworks. It's hard to look at Manitoba's recent success without mentioning fifth-year forward Jordy Zacharias, who had her first three-point game in over a year last Saturday and has climbed into 16
th in conference scoring.
Alberta is led by the conference's leading scorer Autumn MacDougall, who has 16 goals and 14 assists in 26 games this season. Seventeen of the fifth-year's points have come on the power play.
Bisons hockey tickets are $10 at the door, with UM students and fans 12-and-under in free! Join us as we honour graduating players Jordyn Zacharias and Amanda Schubert pre-game on Saturday.
Volleyball at Brandon – February 7 (6/8 PM), February 8 (5/7 PM)
WATCH: CanadaWest.TV
UPDATES: follow @BisonWVB and @BisonMVB on Twitter
Coming off a conference bye, the stakes are high for the
Bisons men (7-11), who are one game back of Mount Royal for the last playoff spot in Canada West. They will look to take advantage of a slipping No. 9 ranked Brandon team (11-7) that has lost six straight and experienced injuries to key players.
Filling the void of Seth Friesen for Brandon has been Elliott Viles, as the left side has led the team averaging 3.29 kills per set and a dynamite .306 percentage. While Manitoba's fifth-year
Kevin Negus no longer leads the conference in the kills per set category, second-year
Ben Carleton has been a strong supporter since the turn of the new year: the Australia native has double-digit points in three of his last six matches.
The
Bisons women (2-18) also come off the bye and have a great opportunity to snap a 14-match losing streak against the Bobcats (4-16).
Manitoba continues to work to improve a young roster, with net play starting to bear fruit. The senior-freshman tandem of
Allison Alcock and
Jaidyn Spencer are both top ten in conference blocks, averaging over one per set. Their matchup with Brandon's Ravyn Wiebe will be one to watch, as the left side is sixth in the conference with 3.17 kills per set.
Men's Hockey at Alberta – February 7 (8 PM), February 8 (8 PM)
WATCH: CanadaWest.TV
UPDATES: follow @umbisonsMHKY on Twitter
Bisons men's hockey (9-13-4) also face a win-and-you're-in scenario in their final regular season weekend but face a difficult opponent in the Canada West-leading Alberta Golden Bears (21-5-0).
The Bears have lost just two game at home this season, but Manitoba can be bolstered by the knowledge that they've beaten this Alberta team already this season — a 5-3 victory back on November 23 at Wayne Fleming Arena. In that game, five different Bisons scored as
Ryan Carlson and
Ben Dalke both wrote down two-point games.
If the Bisons pick up one or zero points in Edmonton, they will be doing some standings watching. UBC sits one point back and Regina three points back with two playoff spots up for grabs in Canada West.
Track & Field – NDSU Bison Open
After the Jim Daly Bisons Classic last weekend saw members of the track and field team improve on season bests and continue a tune-up for conference and national championships, their work continues on the road.
You can follow results as the Bisons compete in Fargo.
Notes from the Range
