Heritage Canada has released a historical look at the Edmonton Grads world champion basketball team on International Women's Day, one day before the U Sports National Women's Basketball Championships start in Saanich.
For the first time since 1993 the UVic Vikes women's basketball team will welcome the best teams from across the country to battle it out for the right to be called the best in the nation.
Coming into the tournament as the No. 8 seed, the Vikes will be in tough in their opening game that gets underway on March 9 at 8:00 p.m. Waiting for the Vikes in that game are the University of Carleton Ravens, the No. 1 seed in both the tournament and all of U SPORTS.
The rest of the Vikes games will depend on their result in that first contest, with a possible semifinal game taking place at 4:00 p.m., on March 11 or a consolation semifinal scheduled for 8:00 p.m., on the 10.
Despite being the No. 8 seed the Vikes don't have to look far for inspiration when it comes to a higher-seeded team winning the national championship. The last time UVic captured the prestigious Bronze Baby Trophy was in 2002-03, that team entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and a key figure on their underdog run is current Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair.
"The group that won that year is a good example of an underdog team that was playing their best basketball at the right time," said Sinclair. "We went into that tournament understanding that it was a clean slate and we just took advantage of our opportunity."
Wednesday, March 86:30 p.m. 2017 U SPORTS Women's Basketball All-Canadian Awards
Thursday, March 912:00 p.m. Quarter-final 1: No.3 Queen's vs. No. 6 Cape Breton2:00 p.m. Quarter-final 2: No. 2 Saskatchewan vs. No. 7 Laval6:00 p.m. Quarter-final 3: No. 4 McGill vs. No. 5 Regina8:00 p.m. Quarter-final 4: No. 1 Carleton vs. No. 8 Victoria
Friday, March 106:00 p.m. Consolation 1: Loser QF 1 vs. Loser QF 28:00 p.m. Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4
Saturday, March 112:00 p.m. Semifinal 1: Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2 (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)4:00 p.m. Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)7:00 p.m. 5th-place game
Sunday, March 1210:00 a.m. Bronze1:00 p.m. Final (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)