Practice is already starting to intensify for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team, entering just the second week of the 2024-25 Canada West season.
This comes after a stunning opening weekend on the road, with the Huskies upset in a pair of games against the University of Calgary Dinos to begin the year with a 0-2 record.
“We are ready but also we still have a couple things we need to work on and fine tune,” said Huskies forward Courtney Primeau. “We know what we need to do now and we’re ready.”
The Huskies enter the season ranked first in the conference and are aiming to repeat as Canada West champions after defeating the Alberta Golden Bears last February.
That sent the Huskies to the U Sports women’s basketball championship tournament, where they finished one win shy of a national championship falling to the Carleton Ravens 70-67.
It’s a loss which is still being felt by the program, but a run which brought the Huskies even closer together.
“That dynamic was why we were so successful,” said fourth-year guard Gage Grassick. “Just having such close teammates that you trust in every aspect of life, not just in basketball.”
One major difference for the Huskies this year lies at the forward position however, with the graduation of one of the program’s all-time greats in Carly Ahlstrom.
Spending six years in green and white, Ahlstrom was a force for the Huskies with Canada West MVP honours, four conference titles and a national championship won in 2020.
“I miss having her on the court and off the court,” said Grassick. “A great player, a great teammate, she’s off doing amazing things right now playing pro and I couldn’t be happier for her. But you do miss a player like that.”
While it’s a sizable hole in the Huskies lineup to begin the year, minutes have now opened up for other forwards like Primeau to earn an expanded role on the court.
“I’m just looking forward to stepping up again,” said Primeau. “Just wanting to be there for my team and for my coaches. I’ll work my hardest to try to fill that role, but it’s a pretty big role to fill with Carly.”
After the shock to the system that was their season opening weekend in Calgary, the Huskies are eager to get back on track with the goal of finishing the job in Vancouver in March as national champions.
“We’re pretty hungry,” said Grassick. “Especially after that first weekend playing Calgary, just knowing that they’re going to be one of the best teams in Canada West, if not U Sports this year. So it’s just being able to play at that level all the time.”
The Huskies will raise their Canada West championship banner on Friday night at the Physical Activity Complex, as they’ll kick off their home opening weekend against the visiting Manitoba Bisons at 6:00 p.m.