SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan Huskies held on for a 73-69 win Saturday night on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC completing a women's basketball weekend sweep of the No. 10-ranked UBC Thunderbirds.
 
The Huskies took control of the game in the third quarter when they outscored UBC 28-16. The T-Birds' late fourth quarter comeback came up short dropping the visitors' record to 8-2 in Canada West play. The Huskies move two games above .500, at 6-4 thanks to the sweep.
 
Megan Lindquist led the Huskies with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting night. Lindquist went three-of-four from beyond the arc and added three rebounds for the green and white in her best offensive outing of the season. Sabine Dukate added another 16 points for the home squad while recording a season-high eight assists. 
 
Kara Spotton and Jessica Hanson scored 15 points each for the T-Birds in the loss. Spotton grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Maddison Penn was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line to reach double digits with 10 points.
 

Nice baseline drive by Ali Norris puts the @UBCWBBall up 12-8 over in Saskatchewan early in the first quarter ? #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/0jd4ZGmPmB

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 8, 2017

Unlike Friday night's matchup where the Huskies were able to race out to a huge lead, Saturday night saw the two teams trade leads back and forth throughout the first quarter. The T-Birds held the lead for the majority of the opening 10 minutes, growing it to seven points midway through the frame. The Huskies would battle back to take a one-point lead at 17-16 at the end of the quarter.
 
Both teams began to lock down defensively in the second quarter. UBC continued to control the lead for most of the period, outscoring the Huskies 12-9 to take a 28-26 halftime lead.
 
The Huskies started to make their move in the third quarter as they started to heat up offensively. An 8-1 run midway through the third, capped off by a Megan Lindquist three-pointer, gave the Huskies the spark they needed. Saskatchewan would continue to knock down shots in the third, outscoring UBC 28-16 to take a 54-44 lead into the fourth.
 
Saskatchewan worked the lead up to 13 with just three minutes remaining in final quarter before the T-Birds would begin to mount a comeback.  UBC put together an 8-0 run during which three different T-Birds – Shilpa Khanna, Penn, and Hanson – combined to go a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The spurt cut the deficit to just five points with a little more than a minute to play. The Huskies would cut the comeback short, making the most of their opportunities at the free throw line to ice the game.
 
Saskatchewan is back in action next weekend on the road in Lethbridge against the Pronghorns. UBC will host the Alberta Pandas next weekend at War Memorial Gym.