VANCOUVER – The T-Birds knew they had a gauntlet of a run waiting for them when they began the Canada West playoffs.
Despite boasting the top overall seed for the postseason (thanks to their first-place finish in the Pacific Division) and the homecourt advantage that came with it, they were met with the most difficult quarterfinal matchup of any home team with the No. 6 nationally-ranked Alberta Pandas.
After pulling out the win, next came the No. 4 ranked Regina Cougars in the semis. There, the Thunderbirds pulled off a comeback win to remember in another tight game, setting up a date with the No. 5 Calgary Dinos in the Canada West Final this Saturday, February 28.
Now just one win away from claiming their first conference championship since 2015, if UBC prevails it will be their third straight victory over an opponent with a higher U SPORTS ranking than them.
"What I like is that we seem really comfortable with who we are, and we're playing to our strengths and doing a good job of that," said Thunderbirds head coach
Dave Taylor. "Obviously our mental toughness and our resiliency has been very good – when you're playing really good teams there are going to be stages where things aren't going well. But we've done a good job with handling that and everyone's really bought into what we need to do to be successful."
The T-Birds have leaned on their veteran, battle-tested players all season long, and that has ramped up even more in the playoffs. Just under 75% of the team's points through the first two postseason rounds have been scored by players competing in their final U SPORTS season, up from 67% in the regular season.
The duo of
Olivia Weekes and
Jaeli Ibbetson has led the charge, with the former averaging 17 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.5 steals so far in the playoffs, and the latter 16.5 points and eight boards.
Defensively, the T-Birds held the Pandas and Cougars to a combined 35% shooting from the field, and an incredible 24% in the fourth quarter in those two wins. The backcourt duo of
Sara Toneguzzi and
Cerys Merton combined for eight steals and five blocks in those games, helping set the tone defensively on the perimeter.
The T-Birds will hope that having such an experienced group will help settle the nerves a bit ahead of the big game, with the blue and gold hoping to do one better than last year's silver medal finish.
"It's coach-speak but it's true – it's about that 'next play' mentality," added Taylor. "You can't give up big runs, you've got to make them smaller ones. That's where that mental toughness comes in."
The Dinos certainly didn't have an easy path to get to the championship game either, as they were matched up with the No. 1 team in the country, the Saskatchewan Huskies, in the semifinal round. Playing on the road in Saskatoon, the Dinos triumphed 61-58 in a defensive slugfest to hand the Huskies their first loss in over 15 months. They enter this weekend on a seven-game win streak.
"They are just playing really, really well and peaking at the right time," remarked Taylor on the Dinos. "They were obviously a really good team before then, but they've just kicked it into another gear.
"They're a different team than some we've faced because they don't have those one or two superstars – obviously they've got some very good players, but their depth challenges you, their physicality challenges you and their rebounding challenges you. I think what sets Calgary apart and makes them special is they just look like they know what they want to run, and it's nothing super complicated, but they go out and execute it and their execution is outstanding."
War Memorial Gym has been a fortress for the Thunderbirds over the last three years, with only three Canada West teams beating UBC on their own turf at any point over that span. The Dinos just so happen to be one of those teams, however, splitting the regular season series against the T-Birds in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.
The two most recent meetings ended in scores of 64-53 for UBC and 59-55 for Calgary last season, and that type of a close, lower-scoring battle could be in the cards once again this weekend, with two of the top five defenses in the conference squaring off.
CLICK HERE for tickets to see the Canada West Final in person and root on your Thunderbirds. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday inside War Memorial Gym, with the game also streamed on
Canada West TV.
