LETHBRIDGE – Making a second straight appearance in the post-season, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's basketball team hosts the Manitoba Bisons in a one game play-in game with the winner advancing to the Canada West quarter-final next weekend.
The Pronghorns take on the Bisons at the 1
st Choice Savings Centre Friday night at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at:
http://www.uleth.ca/tickets. All students kindergarten to grade 12 will get free admission.
Friday's home playoff game is the first for the women's basketball program since 1994 when the Pronghorns hosted the UBC Thunderbirds.
A look at the teams
The Pronghorns (12-8) and Bisons (8-12) did not face each other this season but last season the Bisons won both games in Winnipeg.
Entering playoffs, the Pronghorns have won seven of their last eight games and had their seven game winning streak snapped last Saturday in the regular season finale, while the Bisons had a difficult second half of the season winning only three of their last 10 games.
Statistically, not much separates the two teams. Offensively the Pronghorns and Bisons rank eighth and ninth respectively with the Pronghorns offence averaging 73.9 points per game, less than a full point per game better than the Bisons.
Defensively, the Pronghorns sit four spots higher than the Bisons, ranked 10
th, allowing 69 points against per game compared to the Bisons 75.5.
The Bisons led Canada West in field goal attempts per game (74.8) but were 10
th in field goal percentage (36.6%). Manitoba also ranked third in the conference in offensive rebounding with 16.1 per game.
Through the regular season, the Pronghorns sit ninth in field goal percentage (39%) and have made the third most free throws in Canada West with 14.3 per game.
Players to watch
Local product Kacie Bosch led the Pronghorns in scoring this season, averaging 15.1 points per game, which ranked her 17
th in Canada West scoring.
Down the stretch, first year Pronghorn and NCAA transfer Asnate Fomina found her stride scoring more than 20 points in two of her last three games and finished second on the Pronghorns with 10.7 points per game.
Senior forward Danielle Fritzke, who set a new program mark for career three pointers made, finished a close third in team scoring, averaging 10.5 points a night.
For the Bisons, the duo of Taylor Randall and Nicole Konieczny accounted for the bulk of their teams scoring this season, averaging 16.7 and 13.7 points per game.
Up Next
The winner of Friday night's game will advance to a best of three quarter-final and opponent will be dependent on who else advances from the one game play-in series.
