WESMEN - Athletics

Feb 7
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6:15 pm Duckworth Centre - Women's Basketball Canada West Regular Season
Alberta 76 def. Wesmen 71
PANDAS MUDDLE PLAYOFF PICTURE FOR WESMEN
Two free throws by Alberta forward Christine Shewchuk with 25 seconds left put Alberta up by five points, proving to be the difference in a 76-71 hard fought win over the No. 6 ranked Wesmen in Canada West Women’s Basketball action at the Duckworth Centre on Friday night. Alberta led 43-42 at the half and never held a lead of more than five points throughout the tightly played contest. A balanced Panda attack featured Shewchuk who had 17 points, including a perfect 5 for 5 from the line, guard Christi Allan’s 16 and forward Amanda Smith’s 15. Winnipeg’s JoAnne Wells, in her first game back after missing the last three with an injury, had 26 points and 8 rebounds in a losing cause. Heidi Schwartz added 11 more to the Wesmen total. The loss was a costly one for 13-6 Winnipeg as their precarious hold on the second seed in the Canada West Conference playoffs slips away. Another Winnipeg loss coupled with Regina and Victoria wins would push the Wesmen even further down the playoff ladder. The Pandas improve to 9-10 on the season and will face No. 2 Simon Fraser in the first round of the Canada West Conference post season next weekend.

8:00 pm Duckworth Centre - Men's Basketball Canada West Regular Season
Alberta 78 def. Wesmen 77
WESMEN LOSE HEARTBREAKER TO BEARS
With his team down by one point with .5 seconds left in the game Wesmen guard Aldin Smalling missed the front end of a bonus, giving No. 2 ranked Alberta the win in an exciting Canada West Men’s Basketball game at the Duckworth Centre Friday night. Michael Melynchuk hit a driving lay-up and was fouled with 5 seconds remaining in the contest to put the Golden Bears up by one. After rebounding the missed foul shot, Winnipeg's Erfan Nasajpour got the ball in Smalling’s hands with barely any time on the clock, setting up the dramatic finish from the line. The Wesmen led 40-38 at the half after watching an early 13 point lead whittled down to two by the break. It was close the rest of the way as the two teams answered each other with big hoops down the stretch. In a battle of two of the top guards in Canada West, Smalling had 29 points and 6 rebounds for Winnipeg, while Alberta’s Phil Scherer netted 28 to go with 8 boards and 4 steals. Forward Dave Brar added 16 for the Wesmen and Alberta saw a 24 point effort from post Phil Sudol. Winnipeg drops to 7-12 on the season, while the Golden Bears bump their record up to 14-5. The two teams play their final game of the regular season Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre. Game time is 8:00 pm.

Away
Women's Volleyball @ Calgary - Canada West Playoffs
Calgary def. Wesmen 3-2 (25-14, 16-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-10)

Feb 8

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6:15 pm Duckworth Centre - Women's Basketball Canada West Regular Season
Wesmen 79 def Alberta 61
WESMEN CLINCH SECOND SEED WITH WIN OVER PANDAS
In a game the Wesmen needed to win the Great Plains Division and secure the second seed in the upcoming Canada West playoffs, Winnipeg turned on the jets in the second half to beat the Alberta Pandas in their regular season finale played at the Duckworth Centre on Saturday night. The Wesmen used an 8-2 run to push their 39-32 half time advantage to 15 and looked like they were a lock to cruise to the finish line. But the Pandas answered with 15-4 run of their own, cutting the lead to four with 12 minutes left in the contest. It was as close as Alberta got however as the Wells sisters sparked another Wesmen surge, leading their team in a 14-4 streak, resulting in another 15 point lead and an eventual 79-61 victory. Guard JoAnne Wells had 21 points including three 3-pointers and sister Janet added 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals to lead the Wesmen charge to victory. In her final regular season home game 5th year post Angela Willerton sparked Winnipeg with her defensive performance, including 6 boards and 4 steals. Alberta's Christine Shewchuk lead all scores with 28 points and had 7 rebounds and 4 steals as well. The No. 6 ranked Wesmen finish the season at 14-6 and with the second seed in the playoff will host cross town rivals No. 9 Manitoba in the first round of the Canada West post season at the Duckworth Centre next weekend. Alberta finishes the season at 9-11 and will travel to Vancouver to battle the No. 2 ranked Simon Fraser Clan in their playoff action.

8:00 pm Duckworth Centre - Men's Basketball Canada West Regular Season
Alberta 79 def. Wesmen 66
GOLDEN BEARS MAKE SCHERER OF VICTORY OVER WESMEN
Alberta guard Phil Scherer broke open a close game, nailing his second 3-pointer in a row and upping the Golden Bear lead to nine with 5:20 left in the game, taking the wind out of Winnipeg's sails and propelling the No. 2 ranked team in the country to its second win in as many nights over the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. A crowd of 1900 was treated to another great night of basketball at the Duckworth Centre as the two teams picked up from last night's entertaining affair with a second dose of great action. The Wesmen led 34-27 at the half and fought the Golden Bears tooth and nail until Scherer took it upon himself to win Alberta the game. The 4th year player had 28 points, including six 3-pointers - his second 28 point outburst in a row. Guard Michael Melnychuk made for a formidable Golden Bear back court as he added 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals to the Alberta total. Guard Aldin Smalling's 20 points and 5 rebounds, and forward Tosin Opanubi's 14 points and 5 rebounds were tops for the Wesmen. Winnipeg finishes the season at 7-13 and travels to Brandon for a best of three first round divisional semi-final with the Bobcats on the weekend. Alberta has the weekend off and faces the winner of the Calgary - Lethbridge series in its first playoff action.

Away
Women's Volleyball @ Calgary - Canada West Playoffs
Calgary def. Wesmen 3-1 (25-20, 28-26, 21-25, 25-13)
Dinos win the best of three Canada West Conference first round series 2-0