Huskies cage Cougars for third Canada West title in four years

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team survived another battle of Saskatchewan to be crowned Canada West champions Friday at the Physical Activity Complex (PAC) after edging out the Regina Cougars 53-49.

The gravity of the game was overshadowed by turnovers, missed opportunities and uncharacteristic errors not usually seen from two polished teams in a winner-take-all championship.

“It was an absolute struggle at the offensive end from start to finish,” Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “I haven’t seen my team play like that all year.”

“That was a grind, but sometimes you got to win that way and we’ll take that over a grind and lose any day.”

Cougars head coach Dave Taylor shared similar sentiments after a game that saw both teams combine for 17 turnovers and only 15 made field goals at the half.

“I thought it was an ugly game quite frankly by both teams,” Taylor said following the loss. “I’ve been in a few of these that end up like this. At the end of the day, their top two players, Sabine (Dukate) and Summer (Masikewich) did a really good job.”

Dukate, the Canada West MVP,  led all scorers with 23 points. Masikewich followed that up with 18 of her own on top of making key defensive plays throughout the game.

“That was a team victory, that was a fight ’til the end,” she said. “Those are the most rewarding games to win, is that battle ’til the last second.”

The Huskies have won three of the last four Canada West titles and now claim six as a program.

Thomaidis remembers a time not long ago when celebrations like Friday’s were foreign to the team.

“I remember the first time we won this. It was absolutely massive and it was something we could barely imagine, and now it’s happening a lot more frequently. I hope (the players) understand how amazing this accomplishment is and how remarkable it is to get back here.”

Saskatchewan has become a hot spot for women’s basketball in recent years. The Cougars and Huskies have battled for the last four Canada West championships with the home team winning each game.

Friday’s lackluster first half ended with a bang as the Cougars Angela Bongomin stuffed the Huskies in the dying seconds of the half before Michaela Kleisinger heaved a buzzer-beater shot as she dribbled over the half line to make it 22-20 entering the second half.

The back-and-forth game continued as neither team could gain any substantial lead. With both teams struggling offensively, the Cougar’s fate was all but sealed when first team all-star Kyanna Giles drove to the rim before taking contact and falling hard.

She laid, rolling in agony and clutching at her knee as her violent screams echoed throughout the silent gymnasium.

“Losing Giles when we did, when she got rolling really hurt us,” Taylor said.

Even with the injury, the Cougars managed to stick around until the end of the game thanks to a couple defensive stops. Down by two points with 18 seconds left, it was Kleisinger missing a shot to tie the game that would see the Huskies hang on to the victory.

Both the Huskies and Cougars leave for the U Sports Final 8 national championship in Toronto this week.