January 3 - The Winnipeg Wesmen opened up the second half of the Canada West regular season with a 54-48 loss to the Manitoba Bisons Thursday night in front of 1200 spectators at the Duckworth Centre.

Melanie Schlichter led the Bions with a game high 11 points. Tessa Klassen followed with 10 points, including two-three pointers and eight rebounds.

Randie Gibson and Dawna Wright led Winnipeg with nine points a piece. Gibson connected on 3-of-5 from three point territory. Wright hauled in a game high 12 rebounds.

The game was a struggle for both teams early on in the contest. Manitoba did not hit the scoreboard until the seven minute mark of the first period. Winnipeg struggled hitting on 17% of their shots in the first period. Manitoba led 8-6 after one period of play.

Both teams once again struggled in the second period until Tessa Klassen hit back-to-back three pointers to give Manitoba a 14-10 lead at the three minute mark of the period. Winnipeg's Randie Gibson hit a three pointer with 35 seconds left to tie the score at 18-18. A manitoba free throw gave the Bisons a 19-18 lead at halftime.

Manitoba gained control in the third quarter running off 11 straight points in the first four and a half minutes to open up a 30-18 lead. Winnipeg went on a 12-9 run in the last five minutes to close the gap to 39-32 in Manitoba's favour after three quarters.

After Kaitlyn Flett opened up the fourth period with a three pointer, Winnipeg found their shooting touch scoring eight straight points to pull to within two points at 42-40 with just under seven minutes to play. Midway thru the final frame the Bisons went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 51-40. Back-to-back three pointers by Gibson and two free throws by Jessica Stromberg brought Winnipeg to within three points at 51-48 with just under a minute to play. Manitoba would run the Wesmen out of time and secure the victory.

The victory improves Manitoba's record to 5-6, while the Wesmen fall to 4-7. The two team will meet on Saturday night at the University of Manitoba. Game time is 6:15 p.m.

Complete statistics...