Observe for the College of Saskatchewan Huskies girls’s basketball workforce has been its typical high-tempo environment this week, however there’s a further air of pleasure all through the workforce.
For the tenth time within the final 11 seasons, the Huskies can be charging onto the courtroom at a Canada West championship recreation.
It’s an environment that hasn’t misplaced its lustre for Huskies head coach and recently-named Canada West girls’s basketball coach of the yr, Lisa Thomaidis.
“After I first began I by no means thought we might even play for a banner,” mentioned Thomaidis. “I by no means thought we’d even make it to a playoff recreation. To be able that we’re in proper now, once you go from the underside you actually respect how arduous it’s to get right here.”
The Huskies are again within the convention’s huge recreation, slated to host the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday night to resolve the champion of Canada West.
In convention semi-finals final weekend, the Huskies had been capable of outlast the visiting College of the Fraser Valley Cascades 63-45 to not solely advance to the convention gold medal recreation however guide their ticket to U Sports activities nationwide championships.
“It wasn’t an excellent offensive showcase by any means,” mentioned Thomaidis. “However undoubtedly, our defence received the job achieved. I assumed we performed extremely robust and simply form of wore Fraser Valley down.”
Whereas it was the Huskies’ fewest quantity of factors scored in a recreation since November once they suffered their solely two losses of the season to the College of Calgary Dinos, it was one of many workforce’s finest defensive performances of the yr.
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That is in line with third-year guard Logan Reider, who led the workforce with 19 factors in opposition to the Cascades.
“We work day in and day trip on our defence,” mentioned Reider. “Simply working as a complete collectively to get these stops that we want. We don’t must depend on our photographs falling or not, as a result of we all know our defence can be there to help us.”
Star guard Gage Grassick, who was named Canada West participant of the yr earlier within the week, was held to only seven factors by the Cascades with the Huskies as a complete taking pictures 33 per cent from the sphere of their semi-final victory.
Whereas the photographs weren’t falling as usually as they did all through the common season, the ‘Canines’ had been capable of take benefit beneath the basket with forwards like Courtney Primeau and Ella Murphy Wiebe discovering time and area.
“Carving area out in the important thing helps not solely us bigs rating but it surely opens up a lane for the guards too,” mentioned Primeau. “I feel that’s additionally tremendous essential to have that inside play, in addition to the skin play.”
The Huskies can be taking part in for the tenth Canada West banner in franchise historical past, in addition to making ready for his or her second journey to U Sports activities nationals in as a few years after incomes a silver medal final season.
“That is essentially the most enjoyable time of the yr and we’ve waited for it for seven months now,” mentioned Primeau. “Simply with the ability to get again to the nationwide event is tremendous thrilling, we’ve labored our butts off to be right here so it’s actually superior.”
Saturday’s gold medal recreation would be the first assembly between the Huskies and Thunderbirds this season, with their most up-to-date sequence coming again in November of 2023.
On the finish of 4 quarters, Reider is amongst these Huskies aiming to hold one other banner and proceed on their journey of extending this system’s dynasty window.
“That is what we need to get to,” mentioned Reider. “That is the top purpose. I feel for us I’m actually anticipating a extremely good recreation and we get to host right here at house. It will likely be a extremely good crowd, so I’m excited and looking out ahead to it.”
The Huskies and Thunderbirds will tip off the Canada West girls’s basketball championship recreation at 5:00 p.m. Saturday on the Bodily Exercise Advanced.
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