The Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team has checked off most of the boxes it wanted to by this point in the season.
They finished the regular season ranked first in the RPI standings, and now they’re getting ready to host their second straight Final Four conference championship.
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For a team that’s only returning one starter from last year’s National Championship winning squad, they’re a little bit surprised.
“We never really envisioned that we’d be hosting a Final Four if you asked me in September but we’re certainly happy to be here. We’re gearing up to win this thing, there’s no question about it”, Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis said.
Rookie point guard Libby Epoch, who finished the season first in assists for the Huskies with 3.7 per game, reflected on the ups and downs of the season.
“This has been crazy, the whole year, things started off rough but we’ve just been getting better every weekend,” she said.
“After five girls graduated, you start to think you never know what will happen when five or six rookies come in and have starting roles”, Sabine Dukate, who was named to the Canada West First All-star team earlier this week, said
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The Huskies will open the tournament against the Alberta Pandas in the semifinals.
It’s a rematch of last year’s semifinal which saw the Huskies win 78-68 before going on to defeat the Regina Cougars 73-62 to claim their fourth Canada West title since 1973.
The team’s split when they met just a month ago at the PAC. The two teams are also the best defensive teams in the conference, giving up the fewest baskets this season.
“It’s definitely a good match up for us and one of our rivals so we’re exciting about that. We played them recently in the season too which definitely helps out”, noted second year Huskie Megan Ahlstrom, who averaged 11.5 points per game this season.
Also at stake are two berths to nationals for the teams that reach the finals, meaning the game against Alberta has added pressure.
“I think they’re a really good team and if we play our best, it should be fine but it will be a tough game”, Dukate added.
The Huskies open the tournament at 6:15 p.m. CT on Friday. The Regina Cougars will take on the Winnipeg Wesmen in the other semifinal.
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