Women’s hockey
The Bison women’s hockey came out of their weekend trip to Regina with a pair of huge wins, which clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the Canada West playoffs.
On Friday, the Bisons rallied with a late third period goal to force overtime. Michelle Pawluk scored just 1:49 into the extra frame to clinch a 3-2 victory for Manitoba. Alana Serhan opened the scoring for the Bisons in the first period, while Maggie Litchfield-Medd scored the late game-tying goal.
The following night, Manitoba’s power play stole the show as the Bisons scored three straight goals then outlasted a frantic Regina comeback attempt in the third for a 3-2 victory. Jessica Rosenbaum opened scoring early in the first period with an unassisted goal. From there, the Bison power play clicked as Brenley Anderson, Kyleigh Palmer, and Amy Lee were in on Manitoba’s two power play goals on the day. The Bisons were dominant all day, outshooting the Cougars 42-17.
The Cougars came to life in the third, cutting Manitoba’s lead to one, but Dee-Ana Marion and the Bisons were able to hold on for the victory.
The Bisons wrap up their 2013-14 Canada West regular season at home against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Feb. 7 and 8.
Basketball
The men’s and women’s basketball teams both bounced back from losses against the Thompson Rivers Wolf Pack with wins over UBC Okanagan Heat on their road trip out West this past weekend.
On Friday, the women lost 59-72, while the men fell 60-76.
The following night saw a pair of Bison athletes put the team on their back. In the women’s game, Sheree Carmona-Galdamez scored nine points in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter to pull the Bisons ahead for a 74-67 win. Carmona-Galdamez would finish the game with 17 points, while Allison Balasko was also huge for the Bisons, scoring game-highs for points (18) and rebounds (7).
Rookie sensation Andre Arruda was once again brilliant for the Bisons, as he led all players with 22 points, going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Dave Penner scored six points in the final five-minutes to secure the win. The Bison men came away with a 76-68 victory.
With the wins, the women’s team improves to 4-14 on the year, while the men’s record is now 5-13 heading into the final weekend of action. The Bison basketball season wraps up at home against Alberta on Feb. 7 and 8.
Swimming
Bison swimmer Dillon Perron came away from the 2014 Canada West Swimming Championship with four medals.
Perron earned silver medals in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke with a time of 2:13.21 (a new provincial record) and the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 24.64. He also claimed bronze in the men’s 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 28.61 and in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:01.86.
Fourth-year swimmer Kimberley Moors was the strongest Bison woman in competition, placing fourth in the women’s 50-metre butterfly and 50-metre freestyle.
“Dillon swam very well this weekend by reaching the podium on four occasions and setting a new provincial record,” said Bison swimming head coach Vlastimil Cerny to Bison Sports.
“Kim also had strong swims and just missed out on a podium finish. We had several fast swims by both teams and pleased with our overall results at this conference championship.”
The 2014 CIS Swimming Championships will be hosted by the University of Toronto from Feb. 20-22.
