The University of Regina's women's basketball team plays its first Canada West home games of the season this weekend, as the Cougars have Manitoba in town for Friday and Saturday contests at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
Both games will tip off at 6 p.m.
 
After losses at Victoria last weekend, the Cougars open the conference schedule with an 0-2 record for the first time since the 2006 season. They were 8-3 against CIS competition in non-conference, but lost 89-69 to the Vikes on Friday and 80-64 on Saturday.
 
With just 10 players on the active roster, the Cougars will likely use their entire bench on any given night. Four players averaged in double figures in the two Victoria games including Charlotte Kot (15.5 points per game), Katie Polischuk (11.5), Christina McCusker (11), and Jennilea Coppola (10). Kot, Polischuk, Coppola, and leading rebounder Alyssia Kajati all started both games against the Vikes, while Caitlin Zacharias and Kehlsie Crone each got a start at guard.
 
McCusker, Taylor Pelletier, and Sara Hubenig all had heavy minutes off the bench for the U of R, with rookie Britton Belyk also chipping in with a total of 10 minutes played last weekend.
 
The Cougars will be taking on a Manitoba team that's also 0-2 on the season after two close home losses to Trinity Western last weekend. Though she didn't start in either game last weekend, Manitoba's player to watch is Robyn Eyer. The fifth-year guard was the only Canada West player not named Michelle Clark or Katie Polischuk to shoot over 40% from three-point range last season, and she's already among the conference leaders this season with a three-point percentage of .462 after going 6-for-13 against TWU.
 
Eyer is averaging 12.5 points through two games, while Sheree Carmona-Galdamez and Vanessa DeVries both scored a total of 20 points for the Bisons last weekend.
 
This weekend's games will be webcast live at www.canadawest.tv.