The Winnipeg Wesmen are going to need to find some wins in the final few weeks of the season, and they got a big one Friday.

The Wesmen women's basketball team scored a 57-46 win over the MacEwan Griffins at the Duckworth Centre, a victory that gave it some firmer footing in the 12-team Canada West conference playoff picture with five games to go.

The Wesmen (4-11) sit in the 12th and final playoff spot by RPI, which is the determining factor for the conference rankings. 

Raia Guinto scored a game-high 18 points and Carmen Hiebert had 13 points with a career-high 12 rebounds for the Wesmen, who fell behind 8-2 but went on a 17-3 run over a stretch of 9:14 between the first and second quarters. The Griffins (1-14) were held without a field goal between the 2:12 mark of the first and 1:55 remaining in the half. 

Winnipeg went into the half with a 21-20 lead after Guinto scored with three seconds left. 

Anna Kernaghan also scored 13 points with seven rebounds for the Wesmen, who forced 20 MacEwan turnovers. Kernaghan had a game-high three steals and Hiebert had a career-high two. 

Noelle Kilbreath topped the Griffins with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Toki Tsuzuki scored 10 off the bench.