VANCOUVER, B.C. – It's finally here.
Two years, one month, and four days after it was announced that UBC would be the first school to ever host both basketball national championships at once, the 2025 INDOCHINO U SPORTS Final 8 presented by Victory Creative Group is upon us at last.
"It's a little surreal to be at the finish line of something that you've known has been coming for over two years," reflected UBC head coach Isabel Ormond. "Now that it's here, I think it's important for us to make the effort to be present and be ourselves, not get lost in all of the extra things that come with hosting nationals. At the end of the day we're getting ready for a tough quarter-final game on Thursday and preparing the same way that we've been getting ready all year."
The UBC Thunderbirds enter the tournament as the No.5-seed, after finishing the regular season atop the Canada West Pacific Division at 18-2 and reaching the conference final for the first time since 2015. The T-Birds take on the AUS Champions in their quarter-final matchup, playing the No.4-seed Saint Mary's Huskies (18-2) in their quarter-final at 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Thursday at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
UBC is then on a collision course with a familiar Canada West foe in the semifinals, as No.1-seed Saskatchewan (18-2, CW Champion) and No.8-seed Alberta (18-2, CW Bronze) will play one another in the other quarter-final on the 'Birds' side of the bracket.
The T-Birds are appearing in their first national championship tournament since 2015. Already guaranteed a spot with a locked-in host berth, the 'Birds still earned their way in by reaching the Canada West Final for the first time in a decade as well. In their last nationals appearance, the blue and gold were bounced by McGill in a thrilling overtime game in the semifinal before defeating Saskatchewan to earn bronze.
This is the 12
th time that the program has reached the U SPORTS Championships since the annual tournament officially began 1972, an event which UBC won. In fact, the T-Birds won the first three officially sanctioned Canadian university national championship tournaments, in what was then known as the Canadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union. The T-Birds added three more titles in the 2000s to give them six overall national championships, good for the third most all-time and the most of any school participating in this year's event. UBC's .741 win% at the national championships is also third-best all-time, as the T-Birds have two silver medals and a bronze to go along with the six golds.
Also participating in this year's event, the Carleton Ravens (22-0) come to Point Grey off of an undefeated regular season and as the two-time defending national champions, but were given the No.3-seed after losing to the Ottawa Gee-Gees (19-3) in the OUA Final. Ottawa was given the No.2-seed, setting up a juicy potential rematch between the crosstown rivals in the semifinals.
The Ravens' first round opponent is the No.6-seed Bishop's Gaiters (11-5, RSEQ Champions) while the Gee-Gees take on No.7-seed Laval Rouge et Or (14-2, RSEQ finalist) in their quarter-final matchup.
UBC's first round opponent, Saint Mary's, is making its third straight trip to the U SPORTS Championships, after finishing in fourth place in 2023 and fifth in 2024 The Huskies have been a force in the regular season during this run, posting records of 15-5, 17-3 and 18-2 while winning the last three AUS Championships.
With easily the best net and defensive rating of any Atlantic team, the veteran-heavy Huskies also led the nation in blocks this year.
"They're playing with mostly fifth years in their lineup," commented Ormond. "They've been to the last few national tournaments, so we know we're going up against a very experienced group, which is always challenging."
"They have both the Defensive Player of the Year and Player of the Year in the AUS in Clara Gascoigne. So we're looking to keep the ball out of her hands. Otherwise, it's about coming back to the things we do well, like push the pace, push the defensive intensity and use some of our own strengths, specifically playing inside and taking advantage of our depth that got us here."
Should the T-Birds win their quarter-final, they would go on to play in the Championship Semifinal at 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The women's gold medal game is the finale of the double tournament, with tip-off at 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Sunday at Doug Mitchell.
All 22 games of the Championships will be streamed on CBC Digital Platforms, including CBC Gem, CBC Sports YouTube and ICITOU.TV. The women's gold medal game will also be broadcast live on Sportsnet 360.
