Game Information
 
Date: Thursday, Feb. 20 & Friday, Feb. 21
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Saskatoon, Sask.
Venue: Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC
Watch: Canadawest.tv
Get in the Action: Tickets
 
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball team is back in action this weekend, as their quarter-final clash against the Victoria Vikes on Thursday night officially begins the post-season pursuit of their seventh conference championship in program history.
 
After splitting two of their three final series of the conference season, Saskatchewan will take the floor at the PAC for the first time in nearly three weeks on Thursday night.
 
The Huskies will enter the weekend back on top of the national rankings, after the previously number-one ranked Ottawa Gee Gee's fell twice this past weekend.
 
The Canada West adopted a new playoff format this season, going away from best-of-three quarter-final and semifinal series, which the conference used for the previous two seasons. New in 2019-20 is single-game knockout games, with the number-one and number-two seed playing host to the respective contests.
 
The Huskies will take the court on Thursday night against the Vikes, following the UBC Thunderbirds and Winnipeg Wesmen quarter-final matchup, with the victors of the respective contests meeting in semifinal action on Friday night for the right to advance to the U SPORTS Final 8 and CW Championship Game.
 
The new set up results in Saskatchewan being just two wins away from advancing to Final 8 and conference title game, which would be their seventh-consecutive appearance in the pair of events.
 
Ashlyn Day led Victoria in scoring with 16.4 points-per-game this season. Day, who was the lone member of the team to average double-digit scoring this season, was sensational from beyond-the-arc, shooting 45.7 per cent from three.
 
The Vikes showed comfort in the one-and-done format, recording a 69-49 victory over the Regina Cougars at home this past weekend. The 20-point victory pushed the team through to the conference's final eight. 
 
However, Victoria entered the postseason on a bit of a rocky stretch, splitting their final weekend of the regular season with the Trinity Western Spartans.
 
Saskatchewan met Victoria earlier this season at the PAC, with the Vikes giving the Huskies one of their toughest matchups of the year in the opening contest of the series, before falling narrowly 73-68 to the home side. But Saskatchewan rebounded with a decisive 30-point victory the following night, taking down the visitors 102-72 to record the series sweep.
 
5 Things
 
1: The Huskies enter the playoffs after finishing the regular season with an 18-2 record, tying the program's record for fewest losses in a single season. Saskatchewan matched their two-loss 2015-16 campaign, where they went on to win their first national championship in school history.
 
2: The Huskies have deep playoff ties with each of the three opponents who are in Saskatoon this weekend, having played a total of nine postseason games over the past six seasons against the Wesmen, Thunderbirds and Vikes. Saskatchewan's last playoff meeting against the Vikes took place in the 2014-15 Canada West Final Four, which they won 77-61 to move on to the conference championship game.
 
3: In order for Saskatchewan to play host to the CW Championship, the team would need a pair of wins this weekend, paired with the Calgary Dinos falling in either their quarter-final or semifinal clashes.
 
4: The PAC will play host to four of the most efficient players in the conference this weekend. UBC's Keylyn Filewich, Victoria's Katie Langdon and Saskatchewan's pair of starting forwards in Kyla Shand and Summer Masikewich are all in the top-five of Canada West in field-goal percentage.
 
5: The Huskies clip of 49.5 points allowed per-game is the lowest average in the Canada West since the 2009-10 season. That year the Simon Fraser Clan held their opponents to 49.4 points allowed per game.