That is the question that must be asked with all three teams from the host conference on the consolation side of the 2017 U Sports national women鈥檚 championship tournament at CARSA gym.
The Regina Cougars defeated the University of Victoria Vikes 78-64 in the final game for Vikes seniors Jenna Bugiardini, Nicole Karstein and Jenna Krug, while the Saskatchewan Huskies beat Atlantic-champion Cape Breton Capers 65-51 in the consolation round Friday night.
鈥淓xpansion has hurt us,鈥� said Dave Taylor, the Regina head coach, following his team鈥檚 quarter-final loss the night before to Quebec-champion McGill.
鈥淭he player pool is getting thinner and thinner.鈥�
The now 17-team sa国际传媒 West has over the past several years added former colleges such as Fraser Valley, UBC-Okanagan, UNBC, MacEwan and Mount Royal before an earlier expansion included Thompson Rivers and Trinity Western.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of schools and it has had an impact,鈥� said Saskatchewan coach Lisa Thomaidis, who also guided sa国际传媒 to the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympics last summer.
The Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic conferences have pretty much held firm with their traditional schools, therefore consolidating all the best players from those regions on fewer per capita teams.
That said, the Saskatchewan won its first women鈥檚 hoops national title last year.
鈥淭he top sa国际传媒 West schools are still attracting the players they normally would,鈥� said Thomaidis.
The championship semifinals today on Ken and Kathy Shields Court feature teams from Ontario and Quebec with Queen鈥檚 meeting Laval at 2 p.m. and Carleton playing McGill at 4 p.m. The bronze-medal game is Sunday at 10 a.m. and the championship game at 1 p.m.
The semifinals and final are broadcast on Sportsnet 360.
Saskatchewan won its first nationals last year, Regina was the 2001 champion and the Vikes are nine-time champions, but not since 2003. This year鈥檚 semifinalists Carleton, McGill, Laval and Queen鈥檚 have never won the big prize, known as the Bronze Baby.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been knocking on the door for a couple of years and now hope to push through and be holding that Bronze Baby on Sunday afternoon,鈥� said McGill coach Ryan Thorne. 鈥淎ll four remaining are great teams.鈥�
With two from Quebec.
鈥淭he [Ratings Percentage Index] showed we were the No. 1 conference in the country,鈥� noted Thorne.
