The U of S women’s basketball team held off Victoria 80-75 Thursday night at the P-A-C to advance to Friday night’s Canada West Conference semi-final against U-B-C.
Meanwhile, both Huskies volleyball teams lost to Alberta in Edmonton Thursday to open best-of-three quarter-finals. The women’s team won the first set, but lost the next three to the Pandas. On the men’s side, the Golden Bears swept the Huskies in three straight sets. Following are the game wrap-up news releases from Huskie Athletics…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2020
Masikewich’s monster night sends Huskies to semifinals
Matt Johnson, Huskie Athletics
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are off to the conference semifinals for the seventh-straight season after they took down the Victoria Vikes 80-75 in Canada West quarter-final action on Thursday, Feb. 20, on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC. “It says a lot about our grit. It was a tough one, but I’m glad we were able to come out on top,” said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis. Summer Masikewich, who was named to the Canada West First Team All-Star squad for the first time in her career earlier in the day, was the story of the contest. The fourth-year forward was a dominant presence in the paint all night long, registering 29 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. “We have to continually pound the ball inside and make sure she’s getting her touches every time down. She did a good job for us down the stretch,” said Thomaidis. Despite trailing by 19 points at the end of the opening quarter Victoria refused to go away, as they chipped away at the Saskatchewan lead throughout the contest, but unfortunately for the visitors the early deficit was insurmountable. “A little bit rusty coming out of the bye week, but we came out firing and just couldn’t sustain it,” said Thomaidis. “They don’t give up. Credit to them, they fought hard to the end. They hit some shots, and we went ice cold there for a while and couldn’t match them.” The Huskies are now only one win away from advancing to the U SPORTS Final 8 and CW Championship game. While for the Vikes, after defeating the Regina Cougars in the CW Play-In game, their season comes to an end with the defeat. “I thought they came out firing, and we came out with a very slow start. We missed some easy ones and had some mix-ups defensively, we didn’t get back in transition and gave them too many easy baskets and got away from our game plan early on,” said Vikes head coach Dani Sinclair. Ashlyn Day was instrumental in the comeback effort, recording 25 points and six rebounds, with 21 of her team-high points coming in the second half. “They’re obviously going to key on her early and when she wasn’t scoring, she was 1-7 at half, but she was still doing other things,” said Sinclair. “She was being very aggressive defensively, and she didn’t shy away from being aggressive, and that allowed things to start going for her. She’s a good enough player that eventually something is going to fall.” In the final Canada West contest of her career, Morgan Roskelley recorded 13 points and six rebounds on 5-10 shooting, while Marrissa Dheenshaw fell one rebound short of the double-double, with a 17-point, nine-rebound performance. A dominant first quarter was pivotal for the Huskies, as their defence was suffocating in the early going of the contest. Saskatchewan led for 9:42 of the opening quarter and took a 27-8 advantage after the opening ten minutes of action, as they held Victoria off the scoreboard until 4:16 remaining of the quarter. But Victoria started to make their way back into the contest in the second quarter and slowly trimmed the deficit. The visitors closed the half on a 6-0 run to cut the Saskatchewan lead to 14, as the home side took a 41-27 advantage into the locker room. But after being down by 15 with under a minute remaining in the third quarter, the visitors climbed back. A pair of free-throws from Tana Pankratz trimmed their deficit to 13, before Day hit one of her two three-pointers on the night, to get the Vikes back within ten. When it looked like the Huskies would escape the quarter with a double-digit advantage, Victoria connected again from long-range, as a Roskelley buzzer-beating heave from way downtown brought the visitors to within seven. The Vikes continued to claw their way back into the contest, as they cut into the deficit even more at the start of the fourth quarter. Dheenshaw’s lone triple of the night stunned the Huskies, as they were all of a sudden looking at a three-point lead. After the team’s continued to exchange buckets down the stretch, it was Masikewich who took over down low for the home side, as she went on a personal 4-0 run to give Saskatchewan a seven-point advantage with just over a minute remaining. From there, Saskatchewan was able to ride out the contest, escaping a late flurry from Victoria, which included Day’s three-pointer plus the foul with five seconds remaining. The Huskies will take the court at the PAC for the second-straight night at 7:00 p.m., as they look to take down the Thunderbirds. “We had to do some things at the end to secure the victory, and hopefully that will bode well for tomorrow,” said Thomaidis.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2020
Huskies jump out to early lead but fall to Pandas
With files from Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON – Playing in their first Canada West playoff game since the 2001-02 season, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball led early before falling to the Alberta Pandas by a score of 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-9) in game one of the best-of-three quarter-final series, Thursday night at Saville Community Sports Centre. Meeting again for the third time in two weeks, the Pandas once again find themselves victorious over the Huskies after sweeping them during their regular season match-up. Pandas fourth-year outside hitter Kory White led the teams in kills with 22, while adding four blocks and third-year setter Elyse Hart ended the night with 52 assists. Across the court, fourth-year outside hitter Emily Koshinsky had 11 kills for her side, while second-year outside hitter Olivia Mattern added nine for Saskatchewan. In the first set, both teams made quick work of their points, while exchanging them back-and-forth. Ultimately, it was the Huskies who grabbed a hold of the frame as the end of the set neared. Saskatchewan finished on 14 of their 26 attacks in the set for a hitting percentage of .538. With a drive to not drop two straight sets, the Pandas stayed in control from start to finish, never trailing their opponents, evening the game at one set a piece. With momentum on their side, it was all Alberta in the third, giving Saskatchewan no room to breathe and jumping out to a 13-6 lead. In dominating fashion, the Pandas took the set 25-13, hitting at 92 percent on attack. Exploding with even more offence, the Pandas went on a six-point scoring streak to start the fourth, before finding themselves up 16-5 at the technical timeout and cruising to a 25-9 win.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2020
Huskies fall in Game 1 to Golden Bears
Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies were unable to overcome a red-hot Alberta Golden Bears squad as they fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-22) in Game 1 of their CW quarter-final series on Thursday night. The win was the third-straight for Alberta over Saskatchewan, who swept the Huskies in Saskatoon two weeks ago in their regular season finale. Jordan Canham led the Bears attack with 11 kills on just 21 attempts, with Jackson Kennedy adding eight, and Braedon Friesen powering in seven. Connor Murray led Saskatchewan with 14 kills on 28 attempts, with Cole Burkart chipping in six. Alberta out-killed the Huskies 36-30, finishing with five more aces and five more blocks. The Golden Bears were sensational attacking in the first quarter, ripping in 14 kills on just 22 attempts. Friesen led the Bears with four, while Canham, Kennedy and Billy Johnstone each adding three. The Bears, while not as efficient in the second, wasted little time jumping out to a healthy lead. Alberta led 16-10 at the technical timeout, cruising to a 25-17 second-set win. The Huskies showed some fight in the third, as they improved their attack percentage by 30 points. Murray tallied six of his 14 kills in the third, as Saskatchewan held a slim lead at the tech, as well as a 21-20 lead late. However, Alberta ripped off four-straight points to take the third 25-22.
