Wesmen Playoff Power Points

Canada West Conference Women’s Basketball Quarter-Finals

(14-6) Winnipeg vs. (12-8) Manitoba @ Duckworth Centre –
Friday and Saturday – 7:00 pm. Sunday 4:00 pm (if necessary)

Winnipeg is the 2nd seed in the conference, Manitoba the seventh.

The two teams split their season series – the Wesmen winning the first two in November and the Bisons sweeping the next two in January.

After storming out to a 10-0 record in the first half of the season, the Wesmen cooled off going 6-4 in the second half.

Manitoba has won 9 out of their last 10 games – starting with a two-game sweep of Winnipeg in January.

The Wesmen are led by 3rd year guard JoAnne Wells with her 19.8 ppg average, good for 3rd in the Canada West Conference. Wells is also amongst the Conference leaders in field goal percentage and steals.

Winnipeg relies on 4th year guard Sally Kaznica to run the offense (2nd in Canada West with 4.91 assists per game) and to hit from beyond the arc. Janet Wells provides the grit and rebounding for the Wesmen (5.6 boards per game 13th in Canada West) and 4th year guard Heidi Schwartz (12.4 ppg) and freshman Uzo Asagwara (8.9 ppg) are other scoring options. 2nd year guard Charmaine Izzard sets the defensive tempo for the squad.

The Bisons counter with 4th year forward Anna Drewniak (13.7 ppg – 10th in Canada West and 8.6 rebounds per game – 2nd in the Conference) and Linda Guy (16.5 ppg – 6th in the Canada West Conference)

Winnipeg finished 5th in Canada West scoring at 68.2 ppg while Manitoba was fourth with 68.9 points a contest.

Defensively Winnipeg allowed 60.7 points a game – Manitoba 64.1 points a game.


Men’s Basketball Great Plains Division Semi-final Series
Winnipeg (7-13) vs. (12-8) Brandon Bobcats @ Brandon University
Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm. Sunday – 2:00 pm (if necessary).
The winner of the three-game series travels to Regina to play the Division winner Cougars.

Brandon took the season series with a 3-1 record. The one Wesmen win came at the B.U Gymnasium in January in a thrilling 76-75 win. Winnipeg guard Aldin Smalling had 37 points in that game.

The Bobcats went 6-2 to start the year – but only 6-6 down the stretch.

The Wesmen head into the playoffs a confident group after playing No.2 Alberta tough, including a heartbreaking 78-77 loss, in the last weekend of the season.

Winnipeg looks to their backcourt of 2nd year guard Aldin Smalling (19.7 ppg – 6th in Canada West) and first year phenom Erfan Nasajpour (12.2 ppg) to spark an up-tempo offense. The dynamic duo is also 3rd and 5th in the Conference in steals with 2.61 and 2.16 respectively. 5th year post Dan Duggan provides a credible inside presence with scoring (11 ppg) and defense. 3rd year forward Dave Brar (9.3 ppg) can knock ‘em down from the outside as well.

The Bobcats will throw a balanced offensive attack at Winnipeg with guard Nikosey Quick (15.7 ppg), 5TH year forward Joe Prue (14.6 ppg), guard O’Neil Gordon (11 ppg) and American import post Gene Shipley (12.6 ppg) providing the firepower.

Brandon is 3rd in the Conference in scoring clocking in at 84.5 points a game while the Wesmen average 73.2, good for 10th in Canada West. Defensively Winnipeg fares better, allowing 78 ppg, for 7th in Canada West. Brandon is right behind in 9th position, allowing 78.6 a contest.


Women’s Volleyball – Canada West Final Four @ Alberta.
Semi-Final – No. 6 (11-9) Winnipeg vs. No.1 (16-4) Alberta. Saturday Feb. 15th 6:30 pm.
Sunday - Bronze medal game 1 pm, Gold medal game 3 pm.

The Wesmen enter the Final Four as the 4th seed in the Canada West Conference. They lost their first round playoff series to the Calgary Dinos last weekend.

1st team Canada West Conference All-Star Andrea Charbonneau leads Winnipeg. The 3rd year middle hitter averages 4.95 points per set, good for fourth spot in the CIS. She is also seventh in the country in kills with 3.64 a set. 3rd year left side hitter Aynsley Laluk, a curious omission from the Canada West Conference All Star teams, is also an important offensive catalyst for the Wesmen. The addition of power hitter Jocelyn Roy to the lineup in January (NCAA transfer) has helped to solidify the young and improving Wesmen squad. Christa Desroches was named to the Canada West Conference Rookie Team as well.

The Wesmen face the No.1 team in the country in the Alberta Pandas on Saturday led by Larissa Cundy, a 1st team Canada West All-Star, 2nd team Canada West All-Star Tawana Wardlaw and Conference Rookie Team member Amanda Atkinson.

The No. 3 ranked UBC Thunderbirds and No. 4 ranked Calgary Dinos round out the Final Four participants.

All four teams qualify for the CIS Nationals in Laval in two weeks time.