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The Saskatchewan Huskies defended their U Sports national women’s basketball title on Sunday with a 77-68 victory over the University of New Brunswick Reds in Quebec City.
The turning point of the game came with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter, when Logan Reider made a key three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give the Huskies a six-point lead. Reider’s basket seemed to knock the wind out of the UNB players.
“Experience and the fact we got some key scores, were the key for us today,” said Lisa Thomaidis, the Huskies head coach who just finished her 27th season at the helm of the team. “You have to give credit to UNB, and it took us a while to adjust our defence, but our overall team toughness and resilience managed to get us through.”
Reider led all players with 19 points, including four three-pointers.
Saskatchewan started the game strong and took advantage of the many shots missed by UNB to take a commanding 25-13 lead after the first quarter. The Reds managed to rebound in the second quarter but still trailed 44-32 at the half.
The Atlantic Conference champions came out strongly in the third quarter and even took a 45-44 lead after going on a 13-0 run. The Reds dominated every aspect of the game and even forced Saskatchewan into making multiple turnovers. Still, Saskatchewan had a slim 52-50 lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game.
The teams exchanged the lead, and even though the Huskies had a slim lead, UNB was forcing the game to them. However, the Reds missed too many chances, and Saskatchewan capitalized on its chances late in the game to win the coveted Bronze Baby.
Maya Findell, of the Huskies, was the team’s second-best scorer in the game with 17 points, and was nearly perfect at the free-throw line, making nine of 11 shots.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies beat the University of New Brunswick Reds 77-68 in the U Sports women’s basketball gold medal game.
Huskies 20-0 in regular season
New Brunswick’s Kylee Speedy led her team with 16 points.
Speedy and Reiner were named players of the game for their respective teams.
The Huskies were the Canada West champions going a perfect 20-0 in the regular season only to bow down to the Calgary Dinos in the Western final.
Seeded fifth in Quebec, the Huskies defeated the UBC Thunderbirds before edging Laval in the national semifinal.
As for UNB, they were seeded No. 2 by U Sports, and they defeated the Carleton Ravens in the quarterfinals before eliminating the Calgary Dinos in the semifinals.
For UNB’s head coach Erin McAleenan, the silver medal is quite an achievement, considering the team hadn’t been to the championship title game since 1976.
“It’s the sixth medal in our school history, so we are really proud of it, but we will be back,” McAleenan told reporters. “We had so much support from the Reds and UNB communities, that we hope that the success of the program will get as popular as our hockey team.”
Dinos grab bronze
Kourtney Oss had 18 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Calgary Dinos to a 66-59 bronze-medal victory over Laval Rouge et Or on Sunday.
Christine Geraldo added 14 points and Pollyanna Storie had 13 as the Dinos led 39-34 at halftime.
Sabrine Khelifi led Laval with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Lea-Sophie Verret and Elodie Lajoie each scored nine points.
The U Sports national women’s championship returns to the Maritimes next year as Halifax will host the 2027 event from March 11 to 14.
Slim lead for Carleton men entering 4th quarter
The Carleton Ravens have something to crow about.
Thanks to a 35-point effort from Aubrey Dorey-Havens, the Ravens won the U Sports men’s basketball championship with a 78-75 win over the Bishop’s Gaiters on Sunday in Calgary.
Nelson Cilien had 10 points and four rebounds and Tyler Brown had nine points and five rebounds for the Ravens, who trailed 35-34 at halftime but led 57-56 heading into the final quarter.
Etienne Gagnon led the Gaiters with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Charles Robert and Reggie Jean Seraphin each chipped in with 14 points.
The Carleton University Ravens defeat the Bishop’s University Gaiters 78-75 in the U Sports men’s basketball gold medal game to capture their record-extending 18th title. Aubrey Dorey-Havens scores a game-high 35 points.
In the bronze match, Shadynn Smid had 19 points and eight rebounds, Renoldo Robinson had 18 points and six assists, and the Victoria Vikes defeated the Toronto Metropolitan Bold in Sunday’s bronze-medal final.
Ethan Boag scored 12 points for the Vikes, who led 44-43 at halftime and outscored the Bold 18-11 in the final quarter.
Gabriel Gutsmore led the Bold with 20 points, while Deandre Goulbourne had 15 points and nine rebounds and Aaron Rhooms had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Making the championship all-star team were: Aybrey Dorey-Havens and Cedric Mbiaba, both from Carleton, Geoffrey James from Victoria, Aaron Rhooms from Toronto Metropolitan, and Charles Robert from Bishop’s.
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