Women's Week 12 Basketball Preview

The PACWEST moves into Week 12 of the basketball season which tips off on a rare Thursday night and stretches across three exciting days.

CBC Bearcats @ Langara Falcons – Thursday February 5, 6:00pm | WATCH HERE

The Bearcats and Falcons open Week 12 on Thursday night as the first part of a home-and-home with eight points separating them in the standings.  The Bearcats swept their first weekend in mid-October to begin the new season.

Last weekend the Bearcats (10-8) finally got back into the win column when they swept the visiting Okanagan Coyotes, snapping their seven-game losing streak.   They currently sit in fourth place in the standings, six points behind the third place Capilano Blues and six up on the Falcons.   If the playoffs started today, this would be a quarterfinal matchup.   Offensively the Bearcats are scoring just over 60 points a game and Kagari Tomita leads the way averaging 11.6.

The Falcons (6-12) should be well rested coming off their bye week, following a home split with the VIU Mariners the weekend prior.  Their 12 points in the standings has them in fifth place, tied with the idle Camosun Chargers, but the Falcons have two games in hand.  A win this weekend would propel them into sole possession of fifth.  They haven’t been the most offensively gifted team this season scoring just over 57-points a game.

These two schools will have Friday off, before playing the second half of the home-and-home at CBC on Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm.

Okanagan Coyotes @ VIU Mariners – Friday February 6, 5:00pm | WATCH HERE

A pair of teams going in opposite directions will meet this weekend with 30-points separating them in the standings.  In their first weekend doubleheader the Mariners swept the Coyotes in Kelowna with an average margin of victory of 30.5 points.

The Mariners (15-3) have won three straight including an impressive sweep at Capilano last weekend.  They are scoring over 63-points a game on the offensive side with Trista Thorn leading the way with 9.4 a game.  It’s been their suffocating defence that has been a major impact for their squad, holding teams to the second fewest points in the Conference, 52.6 a game.  They trail the Douglas Royals by two-points in the standings for first place but have two games in hand.

Not much has gone right for the Okanagan Coyotes (0-20) this season as they make their final road trip of the year.  One of the lone bright spots has been the play of Antonella Luraghi who is averaging 16.5 points a game, second most in the Conference.  She leads the PACWEST in assists with 3.5 a game and is second in steals at 3.1.

These two schools will meet for the final time on Saturday at 11:00am.

Douglas Royals @ Capilano Blues – Friday February 6, 6:00pm | WATCH HERE

This is most anticipated matchup of the weekend as the first-place Royals visit the third-place Blues with six points separating them in the standings.

Coming into the weekend the Royals (16-4) have won seven straight ball games and have clamped down defensively holding teams to 47 points a game during this streak.   They last saw the Blues in Week 1 of the season as the two teams split the weekend, the Royals winning by six, before the Blues bounced back to win by 11.  On the offensive side the Royals have several weapons that can score as they average 69-points each game led by the dynamic duo of Lauren Clements and Mackenzie Dalphond both scoring over 13-points a game. 

On the other side the Blues (13-5) are trying to get back into the win column after losing both games at home last weekend to the visiting VIU Mariners.  With the two losses they fall four points back of second place and a first round playoff bye with six games to go.  Their offence has been good this season scoring over 58-points a game led by Maddy Coffin and Barcha Hnizdilova, but their defence has been better.  They have allowed the fewest points in the PACWEST, holding teams to 50.8 each contest.

On Saturday night, they will wrap up Week 12 with tip off scheduled for 5:00pm in North Vancouver.