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UFV Cascades men's, women's basketball teams opening season on Halloween

Women aiming to build off a Canada West bronze medal in 2023-24
Ben Lypka
Ben Lypka
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(left to right) Nikki Cabuco, Google Sidhu and Maddy Gobeil hope to bring more hardware to the UFV Cascades women's basketball team in 2024-25. Jordie Arthur/UFV Athletics

Canada West released its 2024-25 men's and women's basketball regular season schedule and the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades will have a spooky start to the season.

Both clubs open the campaign on Halloween night (Thursday, Oct. 31), with the UBC Thunderbirds coming to Abbotsford. The teams then travel to Victoria to take on the Vikes for the first road game of the season on Nov. 2.

There really isn't a long home stand or road trip in the schedule, with home and away games alternating each week. UFV does play at home for three of the first four games of the season. Games three and four will feautre UFV hosting the UBC Okanagan Heat on Nov. 8 and 9.

 

 

The schedule wraps with two home games against the Trinity Western University Spartans on Feb. 14 and 15. The 12-week season sees 20 regular season games against 10 opponents. It's part of a new format change that sees more of an emphasis on regional rivals. UFV does not travel outside of B.C. during the regular season, but will host Edmonton's MacEwan Griffins on Jan. 24 and 25.

The women are coming off a season that saw them finish 17-3, earn a Canada West bronze medal and qualify for the U Sports Championship tournament for the first time in a decade. The men finished 8-12 and fell in the quarterfinal round of the Canada West playoffs.

Playoffs will revert back to a multi-site format in 2024-25, with all games hosted by the higher seed. The top seven teams from the Prairie Division and top five teams from the BC Division will advance to the playoffs based on their league standing using win/loss record. Single elimination play-in games will take place Feb. 21 and 22, featuring #12 at #5, #11 at #6, #10 at #7 and #9 at #8.

Single elimination semifinals will take place Feb. 28/March 1, with a winner-takes-all final set for March 7 or 8.

UBC will host the 2025 U Sports men's and women's basketball championships at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and War Memorial Gym. The women's event begins March 13, with the men's draw starting March 14. The national championship finals will be played on March 16. ​

For more, visit gocascades.ca.

Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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