Téa DeMong led the Huskies with 19 points in their quarterfinal win over Alberta. Photo courtesy Jacob Mallari/UBC Athletics Photo

By Ryan Flaherty

playing for a medal

Fast start proves vital as Huskies advance to national semi

Mar 14, 2025 | 1:14 AM

The Huskies women’s basketball team came out of the gates strong then leaned on their tenacious defence late to preserve a 67-58 win over the Alberta Pandas in their national championship quarterfinal on Thursday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.

Saskatchewan jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter of play and at times looked like they might run the Pandas out of the gym in the opening half but Alberta refused to back down, forcing the Huskies to scratch and claw their way to a berth in Saturday’s semifinals.

“Sometimes the first game is the hardest one, playing against an in-conference opponent, trying to beat someone three times,” head coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “Started off the game strong, our defence really held them, we were scoring and then just stopped being able to score.”

The Huskies opened the game on an 11-0 run before Alberta finally got on the board midway through the opening quarter. Téa DeMong scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the frame.

Saskatchewan stretched its lead to 18 early in the second but then the Pandas offence began to heat up as Alberta went on a 15-2 run. The Dogs, however, would close out the half with a 13-5 spurt to head into the locker room leading 41-28, thanks in large part to the efforts of Courtney Primeau, who nearly notched a double-double in the quarter with nine points and eight rebounds. The fourth-year forward from Saskatoon finished the night with 11 points and a game-high 17 boards.

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The third quarter saw both defences stiffen, as the teams combined to make just four field goals. The Huskies did earn plenty of trips to the free throw line but their shooting wasn’t much better from the stripe as the Dogs connected on just eight of 17 attempts in the frame. Alberta, meanwhile, went eight-for-nine from the line in the quarter to keep the deficit at 13.

“We didn’t move the ball as well as we’ve done in the past, where it’s kind of zipping around then we attack closeouts and get teams out of position,” Thomaidis said. “We broke the pressure then we kind of stalled a bit, didn’t move it, so a lot of pressure was on Gage (Grassick) to have to create.”

Saskatchewan also struggled from the three-point line, making just two of their 17 attempts in the game. And in the final quarter, Alberta started to find its touch from long range led by Annacy Palmer, who connected on five triples in the period including a back-to-back sequence that trimmed the gap to five points with just under two minutes to play.

But DeMong responded with a fast break layup to push the lead back to seven and the Huskies defence tightened its clamps to close out the game.

“At the end of the day our defence got it done and a few players really stepped up defensively,” Thomaidis said.

One night after being named U SPORTS Player of the Year, Grassick wasn’t her sharpest at the offensive end but the star point guard still managed to finish the night one steal shy of a triple double, with 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine steals. Palmer paced the Pandas with 17 points, while Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma added 14 off the bench.

With the victory, Saskatchewan has earned a date with another familiar foe in the semifinals as they will face the UBC Thunderbirds exactly one week after beating them in the Canada West championship game. UBC punched its semifinal ticket with a 55-50 victory over the AUS champion St. Mary’s Huskies.

Saturday’s semifinal will tip off at 6 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. CST) on Saturday at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The game can be heard on the free HuskieFAN app.

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