The University of Regina's women's basketball team closes out its conference schedule this weekend with a pair of games against the Manitoba Bisons at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The Cougars sit in third place in the Canada West standings and can finish no lower, meaning that the U of R will host a best-of-three conference quarterfinal series at the CKHS beginning on Feb. 25. The Cougars could move up to second place in the standings, but would need a weekend sweep over Manitoba and two road losses by Winnipeg (18-4) to Lethbridge (4-18).

The U of R's offence is led by Joanna Zalesiak and Lindsay Ledingham. Zalesiak is second in Canada West in both points per game (16.8) and assists (100), while Ledingham scored a career-high 30 during Saturday's loss to Saskatchewan and now ranks eighth in the conference with an average of 14.0 points per contest.

The Cougars will have to deal with the loss of forward Anne Mercer, who is out for the season with a broken wrist suffered last Thursday against the Huskies. With the loss of Mercer, who was second in Canada West with an average of 8.9 rebounds per game, second-year forward Megan Chamberlin got her fourth start of the season in Saskatoon.

Manitoba (8-14) was mathematically eliminated from the Canada West playoff picture after Fraser Valley swept Lethbridge last weekend. The Bisons are led by fifth-year guard Kayla Klassen, who averages 13.6 points per game and is an impressive 41.5% from three-point land this season. Mubo Ilelaboye averages 10.6 points per contest for Manitoba and has pulled down a team-high 115 rebounds.

The teams met once during the non-conference schedule, with the Cougars taking a 71-51 victory back on Oct. 16. Manitoba holds a slim 81-77 edge over Regina in the all-time series.

Video webcast and live statistics will be available on both Friday and Saturday.