QUEBEC CITY – The Thunderbirds kept themselves within striking distance for the majority of the night, but in the end weren't able to push themselves ahead of the Saskatchewan Huskies in their first game of the 2026 U SPORTS Final 8.
 
Sara Toneguzzi was named UBC's Player of the Game following a fantastic performance where she led the team offensively, scoring a career-high 21 points on 8-15 shooting, including five three-pointers made (also a career-high). Olivia Weekes had 10 points but was somewhat limited due to foul trouble.
 
Canada West Player of the Year Gage Grassick tallied 25 points and three steals for the Huskies, while Ella Murphy Wiebe had 16 points and eight rebounds.


 
The Huskies – aiming to bounce back after their historic winning streak was snapped by Calgary in the Canada West Semifinals two weeks ago – took the early lead, with Murphy Wiebe powering a 9-2 start.
 
The Thunderbirds struggled offensively overall in the opening quarter, shooting 28% from the field and hitting just one three-pointer – coming in the first few minutes from the hands of Cerys Merton.
 
At the same time, the blue and gold did a good job of not letting the Huskies break away from them, as they kept the game within single digits for all but a handful of early possessions.


 
Another triple from Merton followed by a sweet Brooke Wagner feed to Sofia Bergman for a layup cut the deficit to five points early in the second, but what followed was a four-minute stretch where a Grassick three-pointer was the only bucket made by either team.
 
With less than a minute to go in the first half, Toneguzzi scored a quick five points in just 20 seconds, but Grassick banked in another triple right before the buzzer sounded to put her team up 34-26.
 
Toneguzzi continued her fine form in the third, hitting two more threes early in the frame to again cut it to a five-point game, but again the T-Birds were unable to get closer than that.


 
Entering the final quarter down by 11, the Thunderbirds tried to make one final push with Cassie Joli-Coeur opening the scoring in the fourth with a midrange jumper, followed soon after by a three-pointer from Weekes. But they couldn't muster up enough offence to truly threaten the Huskies one more time, as the defending U SPORTS champs pulled away late to seal the win.
 
Following the defeat, the T-Birds will continue their tournament in the consolation bracket. Their next game will be at 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, when they will take on either TMU or hosts Laval in a battle to see who qualifies for Saturday's fifth-place game.