VICTORIA - A battle for fifth spot in the Canada West standings ensues Friday and Saturday night when the UBC Thunderbirds and University of VIctoria Vikes women meet at McKinnon Gymnasium.

LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS: Men /  Women
LIVE BLOG: Feb. 18 / Feb. 19

The Vikes women will finish in either fifth or sixth spot in the Canada West and will travel for their best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series to play either the Regina Rams or the Alberta Pandas.

The Vikes women are 9-1 at home while the Thunderbirds are 7-3 on the road - both teams have 15-7 records overall and are tied for fifth spot in the Canada West. On Friday night, proceeds from the game will go toward the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation as part of the Vikes Shoot For A Cure initiative. The Vikes are also hosting a Cancer Beatdown car smash on Thursday from 12-2 p.m. to raise funds. On Saturday, the Vikes honour graduating seniors #Kayla Dykstra#, #Vanessa Forstbauer# and #Jane Anholt#.

UBC has performed admirably in the third quarter, outscoring their opponents 409-312 this season in that period. Top Thunderbirds players include Zara Huntley, who leads the team averaging 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game along with a Canada West best 34 blocks, and Alex Vieweg, who is also having a strong season, with 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Devan Lisson is a three-point threat with 42 treys on the season, shooting 37.5 per cent from beyond the arc. She also leads UBC with 84 assists and 47 steals.

While the difference between fifth and sixth spot may not seem significant, it carries even more weight in 2011 with an automatic spot in a CIS regional tournament going to the fifth-place finisher in the Canada West.

Therefore while the chance of hosting a home quarter-final series is out of the question, the weekend games are still vitally important in the long-term.

If the Vikes cannot qualify for nationals through the front door as Canada West conference champions - a difficult feat to accomplish on the road - they could qualify by winning one of three regional tournaments.

And if Windsor wins the OUA championship, the OUA berth becomes an at-large, wild-card berth will be up for grabs as well for the third (West) regional tournament.

The CIS women's basketball national championships are being held this year in Windsor, Ont., March 18-20, with the new regional tournament format determining the final three entries.

For the Vikes women, they can clinch a spot in nationals by winning the Canada West title. If they cannot win the Canada West title, they could qualify for nationals through one of three CIS regionals - with the second, third, fourth and fifth place teams in the Canada West conference earning berths in the regional tournaments. Here is the breakdown.

Teams in CIS Final 8 National Championships
AUS Champion: TBA
Quebec Champion: TBA
OUA Champion: TBA
Canada West Champion: (first place team is currently Saskatchewan)
CIS Final 8 Host: Windsor Lancers
Winner of East Regional: TBA
Winner of Central Regional: TBA
Winner of West Regional: TBA

East Regional
Host/AUS 2
OUA 3
CWUAA 4 (currently Alberta)
OUA 5

Central Regional
Host/OUA 2:
CWUAA 3 (currently Regina)
AUS 3
CWUAA 5 (currently UBC or UVic)

West Regional
Host/CWUAA 2 (currently Winnipeg)
RSEQ 2
OUA 4
At Large Berth: Selected by committee (must have competed in their conference playoffs) - Canada West 6 could qualify this way