Huskies women move up rankings
Week by week, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball squad has inched up the U Sports top 10 national rankings.
The Huskies now find themselves ranked No. 5 in Canada as they head into the final weekend of the first semester with games Friday and Saturday at home against the University of Calgary Dinos.
Game time is 6:15 p.m. on the Ron and Jane Graham Court at the PAC on the U of S campus.
“Every week, we seem to go up one,” U of S Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis said Wednesday.
“It’s great that we’re in that (top ranking) conversation.
“It shows respect for our program and the results we’ve been able to put up and I’m glad we were able to do it (win) against a ranked opponent (Alberta) last weekend.”
After a sweep over the Pandas, Saskatchewan moved to a perfect 8-0 in Canada West conference play this season.
Acadia (7-0), McGill (3-1), Regina (8-1) and Carleton (8-0) currently rank higher than the Huskies.
“I put those top three or four teams in another league right now, and we’re kind of in that next grouping, just because a lot of them have fifth-year players and experience, similar to us where we didn’t lose anybody from last year to this year,” said Thomaidis.
“Those teams on top are in the same boat. They were very strong last year and they’ve returned their entire team.”
Calgary, which sports a 6-2 record, poses a good challenge, said Thomaidis.
“They play, again, a little different style than what we’ve been accustomed to and the challenge for us is to be able to handle pressure and the fast pace and to keep things in our control and to control the tempo.”
Thomaidis agreed it’s important to maintain a winning momentum going into the Christmas holiday break
“To just keep improving every weekend, I think, is key for us,” she said, adding that, last weekend, her team played well Friday and then proved it can win ugly when the ball wasn’t falling for them Saturday.
“So we’ll be looking for a strong finish here.”
Here’s a quick look at what else is going on in Huskie Athletics:
BASKETBALL
The U of S Huskies men’s team is also home Friday and Saturday to face the Calgary Dinos in Canada West conference play. Game time is 8 p.m. Saskatchewan is 2-6 in Canada West men’s play. Calgary is 7-1.
HOCKEY
The U of S hockey teams will face the provincial rival University of Regina Cougars in a home-andhome series this weekend.
On Friday, the Huskies (11-2-1) will host the Cougars (3-9-2) in men’s hockey at Rutherford Rink. Game time is 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Saskatchewan (85-1) (6-7-1) plays Regina in Canada West women’s action.
VOLLEYBALL
Saskatchewan is away this weekend for Canada West men’s and women’s volleyball play in Winnipeg against the University of Manitoba Bisons.
The Huskies are 4-6 in the Canada West women’s conference and 2-8 in the Canada West men’s standings.