TEAM OVERVIEWS
REGINA – The Cougars wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the Canada West postseason two weeks ago with a Friday road win over Saskatchewan, pulling away in the second half for a 74-59 victory over the Huskies. Regina finished with a Canada West-best 18-2 conference record, the only two blemishes coming in a road loss to UNBC in November and an 87-82 setback to Saskatchewan in a game that saw Kyanna Giles, Kyia Giles, Charlotte Kot, and Christina McCusker all sit out with the top seed in postseason already wrapped up. The Cougars, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation and have a 27-3 overall record against U SPORTS competition this season, were led in both scoring and rebounding by sophomore sensation Kyanna Giles. She not only averaged 17.3 points per game during the conference schedule while also pulling down an average of 8.2 rebounds per contest, but also led the Cougars with 57 steals and was third on the team with 48 assists. The Cougars are making their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance, a streak that began back with the 1995-96 season.
 
UBC – The Thunderbirds finished with a 10-10 Canada West record and earned the No. 8 seed in the postseason, giving them a home play-in game last week in Vancouver. They won that game over No. 9-seeded Lethbridge, holding off the Pronghorns for a 77-73 win thanks in large part to a big double-double posted by second-year forward Keylyn Filewich. Filewich finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for UBC in the win, while Jessica Hanson hit three triples and finished with 17 points. Filewich, Hanson, Maddison Penn, Ali Norris, and Madison Legault have comprised the starting lineup the past three weekends for UBC, with Marcie Schlick, Dayna Pearce, and Gabrielle Laguerta rounding out what's typically been an eight-player rotation for head coach Deb Huband. Penn fell one rebound short of averaging a double-double during the conference schedule, averaging a team-leading 18.8 points per game and finishing fourth in Canada West with 9.9 rebounds per game.

PROJECTED STARTERS

UBC	Regina
#6 Ali Norris (G • 5-7 • 2nd) #9 Keylyn Filewich (F • 6-2 • 2nd) #11 Jessica Hanson (G • 5-9 • 3rd) #14 Madison Legault (F • 6-0 • 1st) #15 Maddison Penn (G • 6-1 • 3rd)	#1 Charlotte Kot (F • 6-0 • 5th) #2 Michaela Kleisinger (G • 5-7 • 3rd) #6 Kyia Giles (G • 5-7 • 2nd) #7 Sara Hubenig (G • 5-9 • 5th) #9 Kyanna Giles (G • 5-7 • 2nd)

THIS YEAR
The Cougars took care of business in two games against UBC in Vancouver back in early December, winning 81-54 and 72-56 to register a nice road sweep to finish off the first half of the Canada West schedule. Kyanna Giles led the offence both nights for Regina, leading the way with 17 points in Friday's win and following that up with a 25-point, 10-rebound effort while playing a game-high 35 minutes the next night.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The two wins for Regina earlier this year bring the Cougars' all-time record against UBC to 14-15 in the 29 Canada West games the two teams have played against each other. This weekend will mark the second time in the last four seasons that UBC and Regina have played in the conference quarterfinals. The Cougars will be looking for redemption, as UBC held home court with wins in two consecutive games to take the best-of-three quarterfinal series back in 2015. The teams have met a total of eight times in the postseason, with UBC winning six of them - besides those two wins in the quarterfinals three years ago, UBC also won the 2012 Canada West championship game in Regina, the 2008 CIS championship game in Saskatoon, the 2008 Canada West championship game in Burnaby, and the 2004 CIS championship game in Winnipeg. Regina's two postseason wins over UBC came in the 2004 Canada West championship game in Regina and a 2005 Canada West semifinal game in Burnaby.
 
SISTER VS. SISTER
Wondering about a familiar last name on UBC's roster? Yes, Dayna Pearce is the younger sister of Regina third-year guard Avery Pearce. They both play similar roles on their respective teams, with Avery collecting 30 assists while averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 16.1 minutes played per game and Dayna registering 26 assists while averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 15.3 minutes on the floor per contest. Dayna is only a rookie with UBC, while Avery still has two full seasons of U SPORTS eligibility remaining after this season.