Fraser Valley (Dan Kinvig) – Women’s Basketball: Cascades make season debut in U SPORTS rankings, checking in at No. 7
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team has made its return to the U SPORTS Top Ten national rankings, checking in at No. 7 in the latest edition of the poll released Tuesday.
Head coach Al Tuchscherer’s squad has been the hottest team in Canada West since the calendar flipped to 2022 – they’ve won six games in a row and 12 of their past 13, most recently sweeping the Victoria Vikes in a weekend series at the UFV Athletic Centre. They currently sit 14-2 in Canada West conference play.
U SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RANKINGS
This marks the UFV women’s basketball program’s first appearance in the U SPORTS national ranking since Feb. 25, 2014 – the last national poll of the 203-14 season. The Cascades were No. 5 in that poll, and went on to win the U SPORTS national bronze medal that season.
Coach Tuchscherer noted that returning to the national rankings is a sign his program is trending in the right direction, but noted it also brings added pressure to rise to that level on a game-in, game-out basis.
“We’ve got a bit of a target on our back now,” Tuchscherer said. “We’re not going to sneak up on anybody, and we’ve got to be ready to play our best game.”
The Cascades would have likely returned to the national rankings sooner, but U SPORTS did not release national basketball rankings in January and much of February as Canada West was the only one of the four regional conferences competing during that time period. With the Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic conferences now back in action, Tuesday marked the return of the national basketball rankings for the first time since Dec. 7.
The Cascades women’s hoopsters conclude the regular season this week, facing the UNBC Timberwolves on Wednesday and Thursday in Prince George, B.C. (6 p.m. tip-off both nights, CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op). They need one more win to clinch the West Division title, and a sweep of the T-Wolves would give them the No. 1 overall seed heading into the Canada West playoffs.
