The Viking Women's Basketball team will hit the court this Friday in a single-game quarterfinal matchup Friday night at Augustana Gym.

After a season of big wins and close losses, the fourth-place Vikings Women's Basketball team (8-8) will take to the court on Friday night in a win or go home quarterfinal playoff game against the fifth-seeded King's University Eagles (6-10) at Augustana Gym.

Clinching a playoff seed in early February, the Vikings had to wait it out until the final weekend of play to see where they would sit in the standings, as the NAIT Ooks second half-season push threatened the Vikings third-place spot. The Ooks however would get the better of the Vikings, taking the deciding tiebreaker and third place in the North Division standings.

"We have to focus on the game right in front of us which is the Kings University Eagles who we have not seen since mid-January and who have played us tough each time," says Vikings Head Coach John Dedrick. "They're very long, have an elite-level scorer in Gaddiel Kamuanya Tshiunza and have been playing well this season. We'll concentrate on what we do well which is score the ball in transition and share it on offence."

Having only met twice this season, the Vikings managed to sweep the season series, winning once at home, 79-64 on December 3rd and on the road, 78-72 on January 14th.

Even with the season sweep, the Vikings cannot take their visitors for granted as the Eagles have won their last four straight games and could ride a wave of momentum into the game.

On the other hand, the Vikings have had a difficult month having to face the first and second place teams multiple times and winning just three of their eight games in February.

Entering playoffs, both the Vikings and Eagles records will not play a part in who goes home and who carries on to take on the Lakeland Rustlers in the semi-finals, slated for Sunday evening.

"If we get past Kings, we play Lakeland who is ranked second in Canada and we have played three times over the last two weekends. They have a veteran, big, and well-rounded team who are well-coached," said Dedrick. "We've had some success against them in spurts but have not been able to sustain it over 40 minutes. We'll keep trying to throw different looks at them defensively and then see how the games go."

The Vikings will tip-off against the Eagles at 6:00pm on Friday night at Augustana Gym.

*Vikings court sports games will no longer have a capacity limit at home games. Masks will still be required. Individuals should consider their personal risk tolerance before participating in social gatherings and adjust their actions accordingly. Attendees are expected to screen for symptoms of COVID-19 before arriving at the venue. You can find a list of symptoms at the following AHS website: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page17260.aspx. Tickets can be purchased at the door. 

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