Vikes, Canada West teams exit early at U Sports women’s basketball finals

Has Canada West diluted itself out of contention?

That is the question that must be asked with all three teams from the host conference on the consolation side of the 2017 U Sports national women’s championship tournament at CARSA gym.

The Regina Cougars defeated the University of Victoria Vikes 78-64 in the final game for Vikes seniors Jenna Bugiardini, Nicole Karstein and Jenna Krug, while the Saskatchewan Huskies beat Atlantic-champion Cape Breton Capers 65-51 in the consolation round Friday night.

“Expansion has hurt us,” said Dave Taylor, the Regina head coach, following his team’s quarter-final loss the night before to Quebec-champion McGill.

“The player pool is getting thinner and thinner.”

The now 17-team Canada West has over the past several years added former colleges such as Fraser Valley, UBC-Okanagan, UNBC, MacEwan and Mount Royal before an earlier expansion included Thompson Rivers and Trinity Western.

“It’s a lot of schools and it has had an impact,” said Saskatchewan coach Lisa Thomaidis, who also guided Canada to the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympics last summer.

The Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic conferences have pretty much held firm with their traditional schools, therefore consolidating all the best players from those regions on fewer per capita teams.

That said, the Saskatchewan won its first women’s hoops national title last year.

“The top Canada West schools are still attracting the players they normally would,” said Thomaidis.

The championship semifinals today on Ken and Kathy Shields Court feature teams from Ontario and Quebec with Queen’s meeting Laval at 2 p.m. and Carleton playing McGill at 4 p.m. The bronzemedal game is Sunday at 10 a.m. and the championship game at 1 p.m.

The semifinals and final are broadcast on Sportsnet 360.

Saskatchewan won its first nationals last year, Regina was the 2001 champion and the Vikes are nine-time champions, but not since 2003. This year’s semifinalists Carleton, McGill, Laval and Queen’s have never won the big prize, known as the Bronze Baby.

“We’ve been knocking on the door for a couple of years and now hope to push through and be holding that Bronze Baby on Sunday afternoon,” said McGill coach Ryan Thorne. “All four remaining are great teams.” With two from Quebec. “The [Ratings Percentage Index] showed we were the No. 1 conference in the country,” noted Thorne.