Pronghorn teams active on multiple fronts
It’s a busy weekend for University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Athletics with basketball, hockey and swim teams in action.
At the First Choice Savings Centre, the Pronghorns women’s and men’s basketball teams will host the Winnipeg Wesmen tonight at 6 and 8 p.m. and Saturday at 5 and 7 p.m. respectively.
The men’s matchup features the top two offensive teams in Canada West with the Horns looking to bounce back after dropping their first two conference games of the season last weekend at Alberta.
Despite being held below 80 points both games last weekend, the Horns still lead the conference in scoring, averaging 94.9 points per game. The team is also ranked first in Canada West in threepoint percentage (38.5), free throws made per game (19.2), free throws attempted per game (26.8) and steals per game (11.2).
Fourth-year forward Mike Pierzchala leads the Pronghorns offensively and is fourth in Canada West scoring, averaging 21 points per game. Senior Zac Overwater is second on the Horns with 18.5 points per game, ninth in Canada West. Senior Josh Sparkes leads Canada West three-point percentage at 52.6 per cent.
The Wesmen (5-3) have split three of four weekend series to start the season and are coming off a split at home with the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Winnipeg has the secondranked offence (91.9 ppg) and are ranked 11th defensively, allowing 83.6 points against per game. Four players average double digits in scoring, led by Narcisse Ambanza at 19.1 points per game.
The Pronghorn women (4-2) are also looking to bounce back after being swept by the Pandas last weekend at U of A. Winnipeg (1-7) enters the weekend on a two-game losing streak.
Amy Mazutinec and Kacie Bosch lead the Pronghorns in scoring, averaging 11.7 and 11.5 points each respectively.
Fourth-year guard Katie Keith set a career high for rebounds in a game with 15 last Saturday, en route to her third double-double in the last four games. Keith sits seventh in Canada West rebounding at 9.3 rebounds per game. rematch.
The Horns (4-7-1) are two points behind the Cougars for fifth place in the conference standings, five points out of fourth.
The Cougars (4-5-3) are riding a four-game losing streak after being swept last weekend by the Saskatchewan Huskies.
In the last four games, Horns’ Justin Valentino has registered one goal and six assists and leads the Pronghorns with 11 points in 12 games. Torrin White has also recorded points in four straight contests with four goals and two assists.
The Pronghorn women open their weekend in Calgary tonight at the Flames Community Arena against Mount Royal before hosting the Cougars (4-7-0-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran. Pronghorns (3-7-0-2) enter the weekend on a four-game losing streak after facing the top two Canada West teams in back-to-back weeks. They did, however, pick up a valuable point last Friday in a 1-0 shootout loss to the Alberta Pandas.
U of L goalie Alicia Anderson set a Canada West record for saves in a shutout. Last Friday, Anderson stopped all 46 shots she faced in regulation and overtime but ended up losing in a shootout 1-0. She made 41 saves in a shutout of UBC in the seasonopening game in Vancouver to initially set the record.