Off to its best start in six years, the University of Regina's women's hockey team returns home this weekend to host the No. 5-ranked Manitoba Bisons at The Co-Operators Centre. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night and 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 10 Cougars (4-1-1) have nine points through their first six Canada West games, which puts them in second place in the conference standings. They're coming off a weekend split against UBC which saw them lose 4-3 in a 12-round shootout on Friday night before recovering for a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday.

The Cougars entered the third period of Saturday's game trailing 3-0, but mounted a comeback which saw them light the lamp three times – including a Rianne Wight goal with 50 seconds remaining – to push the game into overtime. Paige Wheeler then scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway to give Regina its fourth win of the season.

With nine goals in the team's first six games, Wight is tied with Calgary forward Hayley Wickenheiser for the CIS scoring lead. Wight also has two assists for a team-high 11 points, while both Wheeler and Kelcie McCutcheon are tied for third in the conference with 10 points. Fourth-year goalie Lisa Urban has started all six games for the Cougars and has a 2.41 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

Manitoba (3-3-0) enters the weekend with a .500 weekend after splitting with Alberta at home, getting swept by Saskatchewan on the road, and thumping Lethbridge 8-0 and 5-0 at home last weekend.

Michelle Pawluk and Nellie Minshull both have three goals this season to lead the Bisons, while fourth-year forward Addie Miles has scored once and added five assists for a team-high six points.

Goalies Tara Lacquette and Leiette Klassen have split the last two weekends for Manitoba. Lacquette has a 2-2 record with a 1.77 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage, while Klassen – a rookie from the Pembina Valley Hawks – is 1-1 with a 2.01 goals-against and a .920 save percentage.

The Cougars hold a 28-19-4 advantage over Manitoba in the 51 conference games played between the two teams. The two teams went to a shootout twice last season, but the Bisons ended up winning all four games against Regina.

Manitoba will travel to Calgary next weekend, while the Cougars will have a pair of road games against the Alberta Pandas.