PREVIEW: Gee-Gees get fourth seed at Nationals, take on #5 Regina Cougars in quarterfinals
Gee-Gees women’s basketball travels to Toronto this week to participate in the U SPORTS Women’s Basketball Final 8 presented by COMDA.com
The Gee-Gees women's basketball team travels to Toronto this week to participate in the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 presented by COMDA.com, hosted by Ryerson University.
After a remarkable regular season that saw the Gee-Gees set a new program best with a 21-2 record. Their season included the team's first Capital Hoops win since 2015, as well as wins over Lakehead, McMaster, and in the preseason against Concordia. The Gee-Gees earned the top seed for the OUA Critelli Cup playoffs and made it all the way to the finals before losing a thriller to the McMaster Marauders, settling for OUA Silver.
As a result, the Gee-Gees were awarded the fourth seed in this week's U SPORTS Final 8 and will play their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET) against the fifth-seeded Regina Cougars. The two teams matched up in exhibition play before the regular season began, with the Cougars winning 63-53, though OUA First Team All-Star Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus did not play in the game for the Gee-Gees.
The Cougars finished the regular season atop the Canada West standings with a 17-3 record and made it to the Canada West Finals before losing to the Saskatchewan Huskies. The Cougars were led this season by third-year guard Kyanna Giles, who averaged 18.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. This time, the Cougars will be without their All-Star weapon as Giles suffered a season-ending knee injury last weekend in the Canada West final.
As a team, the Cougars ranked second in U SPORTS averaging 79.7 points per game this season, and reached their highest ranking in the weekly U SPORTS Top 10 Poll in the final two weeks of the season, coming in at number five.
The winner of the Gee-Gees and Cougars matchup will move on to the semifinals and will play the winner of the top-seeded Laval Rouge et Or and the eighth-seeded Ryerson Rams.
The Gee-Gees and Cougars have matched up only one time in a previous National Championship tournament with the Gee-Gees winning 66-64 on March 12, 2005.
There will be a viewing party for the game at Father and Son's on Thursday night. The game will also be streaming live on USPORTS.live.