Road to the Bronze Baby (Part 4): Final push to playoffs underway

OTTAWA (CIS) – The end of the women’s basketball regular season is in sight with teams either finishing up their final conference games this week or beginning their regional playoffs.

The OUA post-season begins on Wednesday with games to determine the last two teams in the divisional Final Fours.

In the West Division Laurier (15-7) hosts Guelph (9-13) and Brock (14-8) hosts Lakehead (13-9), while the East Division features York (7-15) visiting Ottawa (14-8) and Queen’s (7-15) travelling to Ryerson (10-12). The winners move on to their respective Final Four this weekend against the top two teams in each division.

In the West, the Western Mustangs (19-3) and Windsor Lancers (20-2) secured the top two spots and Windsor will host the Final Four after finishing first in the standings. Toronto (18-4) hosts the East Final Four after winning their final regular season game against Ryerson. The Carleton Ravens (18-4) join the Varsity Blues in the Final Four after a close loss to Ottawa in their last contest.

All of the playoff teams in Canada West were determined last week so it’s now all about playoff positioning. Each of the top five teams won all their games meaning there were no changes from last week. This is the final week of regular season play so this is the last chance to move up the standings.

The only change in Quebec was UQAM (8-6) moving back into second combining a win over Laval (5-10) and a Concordia (8-7) loss. McGill (13-2) survived a scare against the last place Bishop’s Gaiters (3-12) and will host Laval on March 2 in the first semi-final. UQAM and Concordia compete in the other semi-final with the seeding to be determined on the season’s final weekend.

A victory by the UNB Varsity Reds (14-4) over Cape Breton (14-4) broke the tie between the two teams leaving UNB in control of first place. The rest of the standings remained untouched, however wins by Acadia (9-8) and Saint Mary’s (8-10) locked them in as the final two playoff teams. There is one week left in AUS regular season play, including a four-point game between UNB and Cape Breton, so the final standings could change significantly before the playoffs.

What’s it all mean?

If the season ended today and each team kept their current ranking through their respective conference playoffs, here’s what the CIS women’s basketball championship would look like:

NOTE: Seeding did not factor in any conference tiebreakers. Also, based on current standings Windsor would be the OUA Champion. If this occurs the Lancers would take the OUA Champion slot in the Final 8 and an At-Large Berth would be awarded to a team that participates in the Round 1 Regionals.

AUS Champion: UNB
RSEQ Champion: McGill
OUA Champion: Windsor
CWUAA Champion: Saskatchewan
CIS Final 8 Host/At-Large Berth: TBD

The Round 1 Regional events would then shape up as follows:

East Regional
Host/AUS 2: Cape Breton
OUA 3: Toronto
CWUAA 4: Alberta
OUA 5: Laurier

Central Regional
Host/OUA 2: Western Ontario
CWUAA 3: Regina
AUS 3: StFX
CWUAA 5: UBC

West Regional
Host/CWUAA 2: Winnipeg
RSEQ 2: UQAM
OUA 4: Carleton
At Large Berth: Selected by committee (must have competed in their conference playoffs)

-CIS-