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Winners of nine consecutive Canada West games, the No. 2-ranked University of Regina's women's basketball team hosts a pair of conference newcomers this weekend, as UNBC visits on Friday night and Mount Royal comes into town for an all-Cougar matchup on Saturday.

Both games tip off at 6:15 p.m. at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Though the Cougars haven't played a conference game since topping Fraser Valley by a 59-55 margin back on Dec. 1, they won't be heading into this weekend cold as they participated in the Las Vegas Shootout two weeks ago. The Cougars won all three of their games at the non-conference tournament, defeating NAIA Div. I schools Montana Tech, Carroll College, and Montana Western to improve their overall record to 21-4 on the season.

In her second season with the Cougars, guard Michelle Clark leads the team in points per game (16.6), assists (48), and steals (32) while shooting just a shade under 45% from the field during the conference schedule. Brittany Read averages 13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while Lindsay Ledingham is close behind at 13 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Fifth-year guard Danielle Schmidt joins Clark and Ledingham as the three Cougars to have started all 10 Canada West games so far and averages 8.4 points while shooting a team-leading 34.1% from three-point range. Expect the fifth starter to be either second-year guard Kehlsie Crone or fourth-year forward Megan Chamberlin.

Leading the charge off the bench alongside whichever one of Crone or Chamberlin doesn't start is third-year post Jennilea Coppola, who – despite averaging under 17 minutes played per game – leads the Cougars in both rebounds (83) and blocks (10) and is tied with Thompson Rivers' Diane Schuetze for the Canada West lead with 45 offensive boards on the season.

Madi Docherty and Katie Polischuk have also been heavily used off the bench by the Cougars, while Alyssia Kajati, Taylor Pelletier, and Nicisha Johnson have provided quality depth.

UNBC enters Friday with a 3-7 record but has yet to win away from home this season. The Timberwolves' three wins came in a pair of victories over Trinity Western in early November and in another win over UBC Okanagan the following weekend, but they've lost five straight since then.

Mercedes Van Koughnett, a fourth-year forward who is the lone player from Prince George on the UNBC roster, leads her hometown school in both scoring and rebounding. Van Koughnett averages 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and has five double-doubles this season, while fellow fourth-year forward Emily Kaehn isn't far behind with 12.4 points and eight rebound per game. Jennifer Bruce also averages in double figures per contest (10.3 ppg) for UNBC, which for the most part has utilized a seven-player rotation so far.

Mount Royal comes into the weekend sporting a 2-8 record in their first season in the conference, though they're actually .500 on the road as both of their wins have come in away games. The Cougars edged UBC Okanagan by a 54-53 margin back on Nov. 9 to register their first Canada West win, and added another victory later in November with a 69-65 win over Lethbridge. They'll play Brandon on Friday night before visiting the CKHS on Saturday.

Third-year guard Hilary Annich is the only Mount Royal player scoring in double figures, as she averages 10 points per game and is tied with Jordan Anstice for the team lead with 16 steals. Fifth-year guard Emily Larson leads the Cougars with 27 assists, while Annich and Danica Rybachuk serve as Mount Royal's main perimeter threats.

Also on Mount Royal's roster is former University of Regina player Vanessa Wesolowski, but she isn't expected to play after being injured during the non-conference schedule.

This weekend marks the first time that the Cougars have played both UNBC and Mount Royal in a meaningful contest. The Cougars are back on the road next weekend, as they'll play at Victoria on Jan. 18 and at No. 5-ranked UBC on Jan. 19.