VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds dropped a 85-63 decision to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Championship Semifinals at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on Saturday night. After falling behind in the first quarter, the 'Birds made a strong push for a comeback, but it ultimately wasn't enough to secure a spot in the final.
"They shot nearly 50% (43%) from the three-point line and an opponent we knew," said UBC head coach Isabel Ormond. "We know they're a great team, they have a very well deserved player of the year (Gage Grassick 12 pts), they had other players step up like Andrea Dodig (19 pts), she totally stepped up and played the scout. So, it's one of those bitter sweet moments where I think we played hard and I think we faced a great team that was good and super physical and dictated that, and that physicality was allowed to happen so it happened. I'm proud that we didn't stop at all and that was the message if we're going down and going to lose a game we are playing to the buzzer. It doesn't matter who's on the floor and I think when Olivia Weekes was out getting stitches the team stepped up and the team just went for it no matter what happens and we forced them to make some tough plays which they did."
Mona Bretlitz led the hosts with 15 points, Sara Toneguzzi tallied 11 points, while Sofia Bergman had nine points and five rebounds.
For the Huskies, Andrea Dodig scored a game-high 19 points, while Ella Murphy Weibe earned 15 points and nine rebounds. Maya Flindall, Gage Grassick, and Courtney Primeau all hit double-digits in points in the semifinal victory.
The Huskies jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a Dodig layup in the first quarter, but Keira Daly responded with a three for the T-Birds to make it a one-point game. Dodig added two jump shots for a 12-6 Huskies advantage and Primeau got a bucket in the paint to close the quarter with a 14-point cushion at 26 -12.
Cerys Merton made a steal and found Berlitz in the paint to start the second quarter off strong before Grassick drained a three and the Huskies rattled off a 9-0 scoring run midway through the frame. The 'Birds clawed their way back to an 18-point deficit with a Bergman trey, but lost points on fouls and ended the half down 49-27.
The Thunderbirds came out of the gates with a 7-0 run at the start the second half, but the Huskies extended their lead to 27 on a Logan Reider layup. UBC continued to push with a second unanswered seven point run near the end of the frame, outscoring their opponents 21-19 by the end of the third. Despite the push, the Canada West Champions held a comfortable lead at 68-48.
Maddy Billings made a three for UBC in the fourth, but Dodig responded with her own as the Huskies continued to fire on all cylinders en route to a 85-63 victory to advance to the Gold Medal game.
The Canada West Champion Huskies brought their shooting stroke out west enjoying a very efficient 51.6 percent from the field overall which included hitting seven of 16 three-point attempts. Saskatchewan also had the 44-30 edge in rebounds and a 46-34 advantage when it came to points in the paint.
Although it was a tough loss for the blue and gold, UBC will still have the chance to medal at home when they play the loser of Carleton-Ottawa in the Bronze Medal match on Sunday at 12 p.m. in War Memorial Gym.
