CALGARY – A year removed from hosting the national championship tournament, the Jack Simpson Gym will again be home to some of the top women's basketball action in the nation as the host Dinos welcome the 2013 Canada West women's Final Four this weekend.
 
It's the first time Calgary has hosted the conference final since 1991 – the last in a string of four consecutive Canada West titles for the Dinos – and the competition should be impressive. Three of the top five teams in the country will be in Calgary to compete for the Canada West title, including the No. 2 Regina Cougars, the No. 3 Fraser Valley Cascades and the No. 5 Calgary Dinos. Making the top ten at No. 10 is the Alberta Pandas, the fourth team competing for the title this weekend.
 
The semi-finals go Friday night with 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. MT starts. Saturday's bronze medal match will begin at 5 p.m., with the conference final slated for 7 p.m. All games will be broadcast live at www.CanadaWest.tv.
 
First up is a match-up between provincial rivals, the Calgary Dinos and the Alberta Pandas. Despite the Dinos sweeping the Pandas in their head-to-head games this season, both games have a point spread of just four points.
 
Kristie Sheils and Tamara Jarrett had outstanding performances in the Dinos' wins over the Pandas, but Alberta's Anneka Bakker proved to be trouble for Calgary both times. She scored a team-high 18 points in their second match-up back in November and almost had a double-double the previous night, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
 
Game time for the first Canada West semi-final is set for a 6 p.m. tip-off in another Battle of Alberta.
 
In what is sure to be quite the game, the No. 2 Regina Cougars will take on the No. 3 Fraser Valley Cascades in the late semi-final, set to tip off at 8 p.m. Friday.
 
The Cougars won the only match-up of the season over the Cascades, but just by four points in a 59-55 battle on Dec. 1 in Regina.
 
Lindsay Ledingham scored a game-high 20 points that night, making 3 of 6 three-pointers, as well as recording eight rebounds for her 34 minutes of play. Point guard Michelle Clark added eight assists that night. For the Cascades, four players hit double digits, but it was fourth-year guard Aieisha Luyken scoring a team-high 16 points in Fraser Valley's loss.
 
Regina is set to host the CIS Championship March 15-17 and will have an automatic entry into the Final 8, but two more teams will be booking their tickets to Regina this weekend. The two semi-final winners will automatically qualify for the national tournament and, if Regina defeats Fraser Valley, the bronze medallist will also earn a berth to the Final 8.
 
Here's a team-by-team look at the combatants this weekend:
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DINOS
Final Four Seed: No. 1
Canada West: 19-3
Playoffs: 2-0
CIS Ranking: No. 5
Head Coach: Damian Jennings (1^st season)
 
The Dinos have had their best season in a long time, and will have a chance to qualify for nationals. The last time Calgary qualified for the CIS Championships was back in 2001.
 
Calgary continued to surprise many throughout the season, and with the help of head coach Damien Jennings, in his first year, the Dinos solidified some important home playoff games in their quest to win a conference title, as well as make a qualified appearance at Nationals.
 
In her last year of eligibility, Jessica Franz has been a force to be reckoned with at the post for Calgary. The regular season ended with her in seventh overall in scoring and eighth in rebounding. Teammates Tamara Jarret, Megan Schaufele and Ashley Hirons provide scoring from a number of areas on the court to keep teams guessing.
 
UNIVERSITY OF REGINA COUGARS
Final Four Seed: No. 2
Canada West: 19-3
Playoffs: 2-0
CIS Ranking: No. 2
Head Coach: Dave Taylor (7^th season)
 
The Cougars have been a traditionally strong team in recent history and this year was no exception. Standing in the Top 3 all season long in the CIS Top Ten polls, the Cougars are a great contender for the title this weekend.
 
Their only losses this season come at the hands of Saskatchewan in the first game of the season, Victoria in late January, and the Dinos at the beginning of February.
 
Brittany Read finishes up her career with the Cougars this season and has been a key factor in their success. The 6-foot-2 forward led the conference in field goal percentage at .599 and ties for third in rebounding, averaging 9.2 a game.
 
UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY CASCADES
Final Four Seed: No. 3
Canada West: 18-4
Playoffs: 2-1
CIS Ranking: No. 3
Head Coach: Al Tuchscherer
 
At one point, the Cascades were ranked No. 1 in the country during this season, and have stayed near the top of the rankings throughout the year.
 
Losing just four games all season, including loses to both Regina and Calgary, the Cascades have held dominance over the Pacific Division all season long.
 
Point guard Aieisha Luyken finished the regular season with exactly one hundred assists, averaging 4.5 a game, good for third in the conference. Forward sisters Sarah and Nicole Wierks also make it hard for teams to score down low. Both are in the top 30 in scoring in the league, and Sarah comes in at No. 2 in rebounding. She averages 9.5 a game and has wracked up a total of 209 on the season.
 
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PANDAS
Final Four Seed: No. 4
Canada West: 14-8
Playoffs: 2-0
CIS Ranking: No. 10
Head Coach: Scott Edwards
 
The Pandas shocked the conference in the quarter-final round when they went into Vancouver and defeated the No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds in two straight games on their home court, proving that no one can count them out just yet.
 
Finishing third in the Prairie Division, the Pandas have had a tumultuous season, having some tight losses to some teams, and losing in blowouts to others.
 
A number of Pandas factored into their triumph over UBC last weekend. Megan Wickstrom was the difference in Game 1, scoring a game-high 19 points. Saskia Van Ginhoven is also a standout, coming in at second on the season in field goal percentage at .975.
 
2013 CANADA WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL FOUR
Weekend Schedule (all games in the Jack Simpson Gym; all times MT)
 
Friday, March 1
6 p.m. Semi-final 1: Calgary vs. Alberta (CanadaWest.tv)
8 p.m. Semi-final 2: Regina vs. Fraser Valley (CanadaWest.tv)
 
Saturday, March 2
5 p.m. Bronze Medal game (CanadaWest.tv)
7 p.m. Gold Medal game (CanadaWest.tv)
 
-UC-