VICTORIA – A 20-game Canada West season will come to a pivotal end this weekend, Feb. 19-20, as the University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball team play the visiting Brandon Bobcats for a pair of final regular season games to determine their play-off stance. With just three post-season spots left in the Pioneer Division the Vikes women are currently in a three-way tie with Brandon and UBC, all at a 7-11 record, while Winnipeg are one win up with an 8-10 record.
 
The key to this weekend's games are that a fifth-place finish in the division means hosting rights for the Play-In Series, booked for Feb. 26-28, while sixth and seventh place must conquer their best-of-three series on the road.  
 
"To a large extent we just have to stay focused on the games themselves," said Vikes women's basketball head coach Dani Sinclair. "They are just like any other games and we can't get wrapped up in the implications because the you can't be focused in the moment."
 
The Vikes enter this weekend with some fresh legs after serving their bye weekend Feb. 12-13. Prior to that the Vikes were dealt a pair of losses by the CIS No. 5-ranked Regina Cougars. The young Vikes, who boast no graduating seniors, have relied on three fourth year players and a collage of second years. Forward Jenna Bugiardini leads all Vikes in scoring, averaging 16.3 point per game, while fellow fourth year Nicole Karstein has been a force in the second half of the season scoring double digits in eight of their past 10 games, while also being a top-2 rebounder for the team.
 
Fourth year Jenna Krug and second years Amira Giannattasio and Kristy Gallagher have all played heavy minutes on the floor, contributing to the Vikes' improving performances.
 
"We have had some good leadership from our core group of fourth year players," adds Sinclair about Bugiardini, Karstein and Krug. "They have been good leaders and are starting to really feel comfortable in that role. We have also had some younger players step up and play important roles for us. We are still a bit of a work in progress but that's okay based on where we are. If we can play well and make it into the next round we can continue make strides to peak at the right time."
 
The Bobcats are coming off a split weekend with the UBC Thunderbirds after losing 72-60 on Feb. 13 but dropping the T-Birds 71-63 in their Shoot for the Cure game on Feb. 12. Guard Keisha Cox, forward Alyssa Montgomery and forward Amy Williams have been the team's most consistent scorers. All three earned double-digit scoring on Saturday, while Cox posted a team-high 22 points in the Friday win. Defensively Williams and Montgomery are averaging 6.1 and 6.8 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
"They are a very good team and they haven't been in the playoffs in a number of years," adds Sinclair about Brandon. "They are playing really well right now and they are right in the mix. They are a dangerous team that we are looking forward to playing a good set of games against and we know these games have huge implications not just for us but also for other teams."
 
Statistics aside this weekend's games will be nothing shy of a battle as home court advantage could be the difference between a spot in the Canada West Quarter-Finals and the end of 2015-16 season. While the Vikes will use every last moment to prepare for the Bobcats the same is true for Winnipeg and UBC. Three of these four teams will move on to the next round and keep their post-season dreams alive, while one team will be forced to call it quits.
 
"As a group our guards are going to play an important role at both ends of the floor," mentions Sinclair about the duties of guards Krug, Giannattasio, Kristy Gallagher and rookie Brittani Yee. "Defensively Brandon is strong on the perimeter so we have to do a good job guarding the ball and keeping it in front of us. Offensively they have to get us organized and control the pace of the game."
 
This weekend's matches start at 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 19 and 5:00 p.m. on Feb. 20. The Saturday game will be a Vikes Season Ticket appreciation night. The final regular season games will also be broadcast with live pay-per-view video and stats at uvic.canadawest.tv while free stats are available online via canadawest.org. Both games are at the CARSA Performance Gym and ticket information is available at govikesgo.com/tickets.

Should the Vikes host the Best-of-Three Play-In Series games will take place on Feb. 26 (7pm), Feb. 27 (7pm) and, if needed, Feb. 28 (2pm).
 
Play-off Notes: To finish fifth, and host the Play-in Series, the Vikes need to win both games against Brandon and UBC needs to win both of their games. Winnipeg can seal their fate as the fifth-place team with two wins, regardless of the Brandon-Victoria series. If the Vikes win both games and Winnipeg win both games the Vikes will finish sixth, while if UBC wins both games and the Vikes split their weekend Victoria will finish seventh. If the Vikes split their weekend and Winnipeg wins both their games, the Vikes will be out of the play-off race entirely. If both the UBC-Winnipeg and Victoria-Brandon series are split, Winnipeg will be ahead by one win and UBC, Victoria, Brandon and Trinity Western are in a four-way tie with an 8-12 record.

Tie Breaking Procedures Final league standing in each division, at the conclusion of league play, shall be based on each teams winning percentage. Only Canada West league games are to be considered for tie- breaking procedures. The tie breaking criteria are in the following prioritized order.
 
Two Teams Tied:
1. Win/Loss record in head to head competition.
2. Win/Loss record of the two tied teams versus the #1 seed in their division (and then proceeding through the #2 seed, etc. if necessary).
3. Points difference in head to head competition between the tied teams.
4. Points difference using all games.
5. Coin flip by Canada West President.
  
Three or More Teams Tied:
Use the same procedure as a two-teams tied. Once one team has been separated from the tied group, go back to step one with the remaining tied team(s).