Expectations are sky high for the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team as they begin the playoffs Saturday night ranked number two in Canada West.
Regina finished the year 26-4 overall and 17-3 in its conference, first overall in Canada West, but will be seeded second based on RPI.
The Cougars will face either Trinity Western or Victoria, who will faceoff in the Canada West Play-In Game Friday night in the Queen City.
The Cougars did not meet Trinity Western in the 2022-23 regular season and went 2-0 against the Victoria Vikes, winning 89-63 and 78-72 in two January matchups.
Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said it’s hard to say who would be the better matchup for them Saturday night.
“Trinity Western had a better record so in theory they’re tougher but they’re pretty evenly matched,” Taylor said in an interview with CTV Morning Live. “Victoria is bigger though which gives us a little bit of problems so there isn’t one I can kind of pick and we also haven’t seen Trinity Western this season so we’ll be watching Friday night.”
The Cougars are one again expected to be led by wing Jade Belmore who is widely known as one of the top players in the country.
“It’s not just her scoring but she leads us in assists too and just makes everyone around her better,” Taylor said.
Injuries remain a concern for the Cougars who are still without point guard Cara Misskey who Taylor said will need surgery to repair a lower body injury.
“Misskey was a big loss she was about 15 points a game and leading the country in assists,” Taylor said.
The Cougars are also missing Madeleine Tell but Taylor is optimistic she will return this weekend.
Opening tip-off against Victoria or Trinity Western is Saturday night at 7:00 at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
MEN’S TEAM
The U of R Cougars men’s team meanwhile enters the 2023 post season as somewhat underdogs hoping to take teams by surprise.
The men come into the postseason with a 17-16 record overall and will face UBC in the play-in game Friday night in Victoria, B.C.
The men won four of their last five games including the final two coming into the playoffs.
Fifth year guard Nigel Warden feels like the team has turned a corner.
“We’ve won five of the last six games we played so there’s definitely been a turning point here,” Warden said. “We’ve tried to focus on each other and becoming more aggressive as a unit.”