U Sports Final 8: Sask. Huskies to play host UBC in semi’s

Article content

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies moved one step closer to a national championship with a 67-58 victory late Thursday night over the University of Pandas.

Saskatchewan will now meet the host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in semifinal action Saturday night at the U Sports Final 8 national women’s basketball championship tournament in Vancouver.

Article content

Tea DeMong had 19 points and six rebounds, while player of the game Courtney Primeau added 17 rebounds and 11 points for the Huskies, who led 41-28 at the half and 53-40 after three quarters.

Gage Grassick chipped in with a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a game-high nine steals plus three assists.

Maya Flindall added nine points for Saskatchewan, which entered the Final 8 tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The Huskies’ game was far from perfect Thursday, however, as they committed 22 turnovers and shot only 11 per cent from beyond the arc and missed 13 of 32 free-throw attempts.

Alberta cut Saskatchewan’s lead to seven points with 6:44 left on a three-pointer by Annacy Palmer and then got to within six points, with 4:34 remaining, on another three before eventually closing the gap to five points, on a three-point bucket by Palmer with 1:44 on the clock.

However, DeMong answered right back for the Huskies to restore a seven-point cushion as her team hung on for the win.

GRASSICK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Grassick captured the Nan Copp Trophy as the player of the year in U Sports women’s basketball at the All-Canadian awards ceremony Wednesday.

Article content

Grassick has had a season for the ages. The fourth-year point guard from Prince Albert posted one of the best statistical performances ever in Canada West history, leading the country in assists per game (6.0), three-point field goals (58) and three-point field goal percentage (41.4 per cent). The pharmacy student also finished 10th in the country in scoring with 18.4 points per game for the Huskies, who entered the tournament with a 25-2 record.

Grassick is only the second Huskie to win national women’s basketball player of the year, joining Sarah Crooks, who took the prize in 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, U of S head coach Lisa Thomaidis was a finalist Wednesday for the Peter Ennis Award coach of the year, which went to Carleton University Ravens coach Dani Sinclair.

Sinclair’s Ravens were a perfect 22-0 during the regular season to mark only the second undefeated regular season in program history.

[email protected]

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Share this article in your social network