Canada West Conference Quarterfinal Preview (Men's and Women's)

Men’s Quarterfinal round (Thursday, February 22nd)

All games can be streamed on canadawest.tv for your viewing!

2 PM EST: University of Alberta Golden Bears VS #5 University of Calgary Dinos

The Golden Bears look to keep their playoff hopes alive today following a 97-93 win over the Mount Royal Cougars yesterday, a game in which the Golden Bears starters combined for 82 of their 97 points. The Dinos have yet to play in the tournament and are ranked #5 nationally but are the 2nd seed for the Canada West tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 PM EST.

4 PM EST: University of Brandon Bobcats VS University of Victoria Vikes

The Brandon Bobcats are looking to pull off a major upset over the #1 nationally ranked Victoria Vikes and recently announced back-to-back Canada West MVP Diego Maffia. Maffia led the entirety of USports in scoring with 26.7 PPG and will be a tough cover for the Bobcats. The Bobcats themselves are fresh off a 62-55 win against the Saskatchewan Huskies where Brandon was led to victory by Sultan Haider Bhatti and his 19 points and 13 rebounds in the winning effort. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 PM EST.

6 PM EST: The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades vs. the Winnipeg Wesmen

The UFV Cascades are fresh off a 74-62 upset over the 6th-seeded Regina Cougars last night. The Cascades were led by Dylan Kinley who dropped 20 points and 11 rebounds in the winning effort. They will have a tough matchup today again as they’re going against the Canada West 3 seed Winnipeg Wesmen who have been playing their best ball at the right time, climbing to 6th in the national rankings over the last month. Can the Cascades take down another 6 or will Winnipeg keep on rolling? Tip-off is scheduled for 6 PM EST and we will find out then!

8 PM EST: The University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves vs. the University of Manitoba Bisons

The UNBC TWolves are the early finalist for upset of the year just a day into the Canada West Playoffs, as they were able to take down the #4 nationally ranked UBC Thunderbirds last night 86-76, ending UBC’s season and hopes for a deep playoff run. It was the first time UBC has not made it past the first round of the Canada West Playoffs since 2017. The TWolves will meet the #7 nationally ranked Bisons in the Quarterfinals, where you could argue they won’t be as tough an opponent as UBC, but anything can happen in the Playoffs and any team can get hot at the right time. Tune into canadawest.tv at 8 PM EST to see if the TWolves can continue their early Cinderella story of if the Manitoba Bisons will take care of business and continue their quest for Canada West glory.

Women’s Quarterfinal round (Thursday, February 22nd):

4 PM EST: The University of Alberta Pandas vs. the University of Calgary Dinos

The reigning Canada West champs the Alberta Pandas find themselves back in the quarterfinals after a 59-53 win over the Mount Royal Cougars last night. They will have a tough matchup against the Calgary Dinos as these two teams have been some of the best in the Canada West conference all year. The Pandas are ranked at #8 in the country right now while the Dinos are ranked #5 in the country respectively. This should be an amazing game between two top teams in the Canada West. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 PM EST.

6 PM EST: The University of Victoria Vikes vs. the UBC Thunderbirds

The UVic Vikes find themselves as the highest remaining seed in the Women’s Canada West playoffs as the 10 seed after defeating 7 seed Lethbridge 54-43 last night. It was a defensive battle as both teams were held to under 30% shooting from the field. The Vikes will have to shoot better than that if they want to take down the 2nd seeded UBC Thunderbirds who have been a force in Canada West competition all year and will look to keep pushing forward to the Canada West title. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 PM EST.

9 PM EST: The University of Regina Cougars vs. the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades

The Regina Cougars defeated the Manitoba Bisons-handedly yesterday 71-45 behind recently announced Canada West MVP Jade Belmore and her 22 points. Belmore led the Canada West averaging 18.3 points per game and will hope her scoring touch can lead the Cougars into the next round. The UFV Cascades will have something to say about that as they have high hopes for this season and will not go down without a fight. The Cougars are currently ranked #10 in the nation while the Cascades are ranked #7 in the nation. This should be a great matchup between two top 10 teams in Canadian Women’s basketball. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 PM EST.

11 PM EST: The University of British Columbia-Okanagan Heat vs. the University of Saskatchewan Huskies

The UBCO Heat find themselves in the quarterfinal round following a 63-57 win over the Trinity Western Spartans last night. UBCO was led by Jaeli Ibbetson who recorded 21 points and 16 rebounds in the win and will look to keep it rolling against the Huskies. The Huskies were widely considered the best Women’s USports basketball team in the country as they were ranked #1 for most of the season. That is until earlier this month when they took their first loss of the season to Regina and finished the season ranked #2 in the nation. Either way, this is a very good Saskatchewan team that will be a tough out for anyone in the tournament and we’ll see tonight if UBCO has it in them to make that upset happen. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 PM EST.