Saturday is Seniors Night during a busy, and important weekend on campus for the Bisons.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY VERSUS SASK (7 PM FRIDAY, 3 PM SATURDAY, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS)
Women's hockey welcome Saskatchewan to town, in a pre-playoff tee-up for both teams. Manitoba can finish as high as fifth and as low as sixth and will travel for the first round of the post-season next week either way.

The Huskies won both games against Manitoba during the first half of the season, scoring six of their eight goals in the second period. A lot has changed since then.

Manitoba has won four of their last five games, including a combined 114 saves from goalie Emily Shippam. Leading scorer Kate Gregoire, along with fellow senior Sarah Dennehy, have points in three of their last four, while Manitoba hasn't given up more than one penalty during that span.

Gregoire and Dennehy, along with captain Katie Chatyrbok, forwards Molly Kunnas and Samantha Sichkaruk and goalie Meagan Relf will be honoured prior to Saturday's tilt, in their final regular season home game as Bisons. The six student-athletes have combined to play in over 500 games for the Herd.


WOMEN'S AND MEN'S BASKETBALL VERSUS UBCO (6 AND 8 PM FRIDAY, 5 AND 7 PM SATURDAY, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS)
On the hardcourt, playoff positioning is at stake for both the women's and men's basketball teams.

On the women's side, 6-12 Manitoba is looking for a sweep, and could finish as high as 11th, where they would potentially play Regina in a play-in series at UFV. The Herd took one of two against the U of R at home earlier this year.

Their opponent UBCO will also be at the tournament. The Heat are 9-9, boasting one of the biggest lineups in the country. No player on their roster is shorter than 5'7" and they have the CanWest rebounds leader, 6'0" Jaeli Ibbetson, who is averaging a double-double per game, with 12.2 rebounds and 17.4 points per contest.

As a team, the Heat lead the conference with 19.2 offensive rebounds per game, while their 47.6 rebounds per game ranks second.

Manitoba counters with their speed, intelligence and vision.

Last weekend, point guard Lauren Bartlett, one of three women's seniors (along with Emily Johnson and Talia Peters) who will be honoured on Saturday in the final regular season home games of their careers, tied her own program record, with 11 assists per game.

She and long-time teammate Johnson both set single-game program records, as EJ's 18 rebounds were also the most ever in one contest for the Bisons.

Freshman Anna Miko is also coming off her first 20-plus point game as a Bison, while Emily Mandamin and Emerson Martin rank fourth and sixth in Canada West in three point efficiency, at 40.8 and 39.4 percent respectively. As a team, Manitoba is hitting 6.4 threes per game, sixth most in the conference.

Two weeks away from hosting the CanWest Playoff Tournament at IGAC, the men's basketball team has lots on the line against UBCO.

With a sweep against the Heat, plus a Calgary split or sweep of UBC, the Bisons will finish in fourth and earn a first round bye for the tournament. A split, or UBC sweep pushes Manitoba into the fifth spot and a game during the play-in round on the 21st.

The 6-12 Heat are fighting for their playoff lives, and will need a strong weekend and some help to get into the tournament. Much like their comrades on the women's side, UBCO features the conference's rebounds leader, in 6'7" Jas Dhudwal (11.2 boards per game). As a team, the Heat are seventh, with 42.3 rebounds per game.

The visitors took nationally ranked UBC to the brink two weeks ago, doing so without Dhudwal in the lineup. Five players scored in double figures in a 92-88 loss to the T-Birds, led by Jalen Shirley's 16.

Manitoba will counter with their highly-touted man defence and up-tempo playing style. Point guard Mason Kraus leads the nation with 53 steals, a category he also ranked first in a year ago. As a team, Manitoba averages 9.1 steals per game, which is second in CanWest. Offensively, Daren Watts has scored no less than 15 points in each of his last seven games.

Saturday's game will be the last in the regular season for forward Wyatt Tait. The longest-serving Bison, he'll be honoured prior to the match. His 45 blocks are eighth all-time and he also has 23 steals on the year.