basketball
Last weekend, the Bison basketball teams travelled to Brandon to play games on Friday and Saturday against the Brandon University Bobcats. In a great show of skill, both the men and women’s teams won Friday’s contests. On Friday, the men won 94-74 while the women nearly doubled the Bobcats on the scoreboard, 66-35. At the end of the weekend, the women sit at 3-3 in the Canada West records and the men at 2-4.
On Saturday, it could have been a different outcome for the women as the Bobcats gained a 15-5 lead early on in the game. After exchanging leads, the Bisons finally managed to sail ahead in the fourth quarter, as they outscored the Bobcats 21-7 in the final frame. The final score read 53-37 for the Bisons.
The men played a close one in their second game of the weekend.
The win could have gone to either team; both had strong performances from key players. The Bobcats had Ilarion Bonhomme with 28 points and the Bisons had Jonas Huertas with 31 points after coming off the bench. Even though the Bisons put up a good fight, the Bobcats were in control the entire game, leading through all four quarters, and ultimately winning the game 98-91.
The Bison basketball teams are set to play at the University of Winnipeg against the Wesmen on Nov. 25.
Hockey
The Bison men’s hockey team travelled to the University of British Columbia while the women’s team defended the home front as both teams played against the Thunderbirds on Nov. 18 and 19.
The women had a stellar performance on Friday, as they took control of the game early on. At 6:47 in the first period, Nellie Minshull scored her first goal of the game on the power play. The Bisons extended their lead roughly six minutes later, as Amy Lee scored on the Bisons’ third power play of the game. The Bisons lead 2-0 by end of the first period, but they weren’t done. Kayla Duna and Michelle Pawluk scored in the second period with Minshull earning her second goal of the game in the third as the Bisons routed the Thunderbirds 5-0 on home ice.
Next up was the game between the men. Thunderbirds goaltender Jordan White was the standout player on Friday. In a phenomenal performance, he stopped 40 out of 41 shots on net. Not to be understated were Bisons’ goalie Jesse Deckert’s own 24 saves, in the 2-1 Bison loss.
On Saturday, the Bison women’s confidence carried over from Friday’s game. Maggie Litchfield-Medd scored 22 seconds into the first period. Her goal set the pace for the rest of the game as the Bisons kept on knocking pucks into the net. Thunderbird Kaylee Chanakos scored the Thunderbird’s lone goal early in the second period but nothing could stop the Bison offence. The Bisons slaughtered the Thunderbirds 8-1, as Bison goalie Tara Lacquette only had to face 11 shots.
The Bison men’s team came back from the previous day’s defeat and won 4-2. Blair Macaulay did very well for himself by scoring a hat trick for Manitoba. Brendan Rowinski scored the first goal and Macaulay capitalized on the confidence booster. While Thunderbirds goalie Jordan White had a great game, he just wasn’t able to repeat the previous night’s success.
The Bisons men’s hockey team currently sits in third place in the Canada West standings with a 7-3-2 record. The Bisons women’s team sits in fourth in the Canada West standings with a 5-3-2 record. The Bisons play the University of Calgary on Nov. 25 and 26.
Volleyball
The Bisons had a fantastic weekend when they travelled to Thompson Rivers University to play the WolfPack. The women won Friday 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-10) as did the men (25-17, 22-25, 26-24, 20-25,15-8). On Saturday, the men won 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 24-26, 26-17) and the women 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) A very strong weekend for the Bison volleyball teams as the women improve their record to 6-2, while the men remain perfect at 8-0.
The Bison play the University of Alberta for a pair of games on Nov. 25 and 26.
