Gage Grassick scored 15 of her 30 points from beyond the arc as the Huskies downed the Alberta Pandas 76-49. Photo: Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella

By Ryan Flaherty

men still winless

Grassick matches career high as Huskies sweep Pandas

Nov 17, 2024 | 12:31 AM

The Huskies women’s basketball team is starting to look like its old championship contender self again and its star point guard is leading the charge.

Eight days after recording the first triple double in program history, Gage Grassick delivered another standout performance on Saturday at the PAC, matching a career high with 30 points to guide the Huskies to a 76-49 win over the Alberta Pandas and a sweep of their weekend series.

After scoring just nine points in Friday’s 75-50 victory, Grassick had eyes for the hoop right from the opening tip. The fourth-year pharmacy student from Prince Albert knocked down a three-pointer to open the scoring for Saskatchewan and didn’t let up all night. While half of her points came from beyond the arc, with five makes on nine attempts, Grassick was just as effective in the paint as her relentless attacks led to nine Alberta fouls, which she turned into an 11-of-12 night at the free throw line.

Early on it looked like the Pandas were going to give the Huskies a tougher battle than they did on Friday. A low-scoring first half featured ten lead changes but thanks to a late surge, the Dogs pulled ahead 30-23 at recess.

The second half was a different story. The Huskies opened the third quarter on a 13-2 run to take a commanding lead and the Pandas never recovered. Saskatchewan would go on to outscore Alberta 46-26 over the final twenty minutes en route to its fourth straight win.

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In addition to being the only Huskie in double figures, Grassick added five rebounds, six assists and two steals while committing just one turnover. Olivia Harm chipped in eight points and five boards while Andrea Dodig notched seven points and seven rebounds. Annacy Palmer paced the Pandas with 16 points. The Pandas outrebounded the Huskies 45-43 on the night but shot a woeful 26.3 per cent from the field and just 58.3 per cent from the charity stripe compared to the Huskies’ 85.7 per cent.

The Dogs are now 4-2 this season and will have next weekend off before visiting the TRU Wolfpack in their final two games before the semester break. The Pandas are 2-2 ahead of another road series against the Brandon Bobcats next weekend.

In the nightcap, another episode of the Isaac Simon show prevented the Huskies men from claiming their first victory of the season as Alberta followed a 15-point win on Friday with a 86-67 victory to complete the sweep.

After pouring 28 points on the Dogs a night earlier, Simon went one better with a 29-point outing to lift the Golden Bears to 2-2 on the season. Alberta raced out to a 16-4 lead in the opening quarter and while the Huskies battled back as the game wore on, every time they started to creep closer, the Bears had an answer and many were provided by their star third-year guard, who also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Huskies captain Griffin Sharkey did his best to drag his squad into the fight, finishing with a team-high 18 points including four triples on five attempts, while Easton Thimm and Mohamed Jabateh added nine points apiece, the latter also pulling down a team-high six rebounds. The Dogs shot the ball relatively well, at a 46.6 per cent clip, but Alberta’s shooters were locked in, connecting on 55 per cent of their field goal attempts.

The Huskies won’t play their next conference home game until January 10, when they host the Mount Royal Cougars. They’ll have two more shots at getting in the win column in two weeks’ time when they visit TRU in Kamloops, BC.

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