The University of Saskatchewan Huskie Women's basketball team during their final home game of the regular season (Photo Electric Umbrella/Derek Elvin)
By Ben Tompkins
Welcome to the Dog House

Huskie women earn league’s top seed, right to host as far as they go

Feb 16, 2023 | 5:07 PM

The University of Saskatchewan Huskie women’s basketball team has earned the league’s top seed.

After having their 14-game win streak snapped this past Friday against the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, the Huskies quickly rebounded Saturday night to end their regular season on a high note.

“We weren’t at our best on Friday,” said head coach Lisa Thomaidis. “We were very careless with the basketball, we turned it over a lot, and gave up some transition points. I think we learned our lesson there, great that we bounced back and had a much better performance on Saturday. Built a lot of confidence in that we can make the adjustment and 24 hours later have a much better result.”

With the weekend split the U of S finishes with a 17-3 record, tied with the Regina Cougars for the best overall record in the league.

And while the Dogs have lost both head-to-head meetings this season, they finished with the better RPI (Rating Percentage Index), which is used to rank teams based on both their wins and losses and the strength of their schedule.

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“We’re pretty excited to have secured first overall (in Canada West). The privilege to be able to play at home is a huge one, and it really means a lot to us,” Thomaidis said. “We love playing at home, we have great fans, and we anticipate some great support. Also, getting a chance to play against a team that’s going to be battling the night before, always makes that first-round bye pretty nice.”

The Huskies will play the winner of the 8th-ranked University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (11-9) and the 9th-ranked University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat (10-10).

Tip-off for the first game will go at 6 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 17), while the latter will go at the same time, but on Saturday (Feb. 18), both in Saskatoon.

“It’s great that we finished first, but it gives you that quarterfinal matchup of either eight or nine, so two very similar teams, where it could go either way,” added Thomaidis. “Certainly first-world problems, because we definitely love the fact that we finished first, but you do have to kind of prepare for both… we’ve got to be sharp right from the start against whoever we end up playing, our team is going to be ready, and we’re excited about this opportunity to be heading into playoffs, so we’ll be locked in.”

Saskatchewan was a perfect 10-0 at the PAC in 2022-23 and hasn’t lost a postseason game at home since February of 2018.

From this moment forward, the Dogs will only play once a week, for the rest of the Canada West (CW) playoffs.

“That’s different for sure, but it’s gonna be great,” Thomaidis told HuskieFAN. “It’s just one game and you’re moving on, so it will be an exciting format. We’re just looking forward to getting back out on the court, and I think we’re going to have to play some good basketball this weekend to be able to get through to the semis.”

CW Semi-Finals will take place on Feb. 24 or 25, while the Finals will happen on Mar. 3 or 4.

–

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8

by Ben Tompkins
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