LETHBRIDGE – Following almost two weeks of preparation, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's basketball team continues their quest for a National Championship bid in the Canada West Final Four, heading to Saskatoon to face the top seeded Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canada West semifinal.
 
The Pronghorns and Huskies will square off in the first of two semifinals Friday night in Saskatoon at 6:00 pm, catch all the action on www.canadawest.tv, presented by Co-op.
 
Friday's match-up is the second time in three seasons the Pronghorns and Huskies have met in the Canada West semifinal. The Huskies swept the Pronghorns in a best of three series during the 2018-19 Canada West playoffs.
 
A look at the teams
 
After a 10-6 regular season, the Pronghorns were seeded fifth in the Canada West tournament and won both of their playoff games in Calgary two weeks ago to advance to the Final Four. The Pronghorns upended the Manitoba Bisons 80-77 in the second round and then came from behind to beat the Trinity Western Spartans 76-67 in the Canada West quarter-final.
 
Canada West second team all-star Jessica Haenni led the Pronghorns in the two playoff games, averaging 20 points per game. Amy Mazutinec and Haily Weaver have also had a strong playoffs, averaging 14.5 and 13 points per game respectively.
 
The Huskies, who are the defending U SPORTS Champions (2019), entered the post-season tournament as the top seed after a 14-2 record and received a bye to the quarter-finals. In their only game in the opening weekend of the playoff tournament, the Huskies survived an early scare from the Calgary Dinos, topping the Dinos 72-62.
 
Second team all-star Carly Ahlstrom scored a game high 24 points in the win over the Dinos and was second on the Huskies in scoring during the regular season, averaging 17.1 points. Another a player the Pronghorns will need to be leery of on Friday is Canada West first team all-star Summer Masikewich, who led the Huskies in scoring during the regular season with 17.7 points per game.
 
Up Next:
 
The winner of Friday's game will face the winner of the second semifinal between the Winnipeg Wesmen and Regina Cougars on Saturday in the Canada West Championship game, while the two losers will also play in the bronze medal game.
 
Both finalist qualify for the U SPORTS Championships, hosted by Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.