Dinos, Pandas ready to do battle in women’s Final 8 hoops series
Huskies — led by Calgary’s Masikewich — are favoured to win it all in Ottawa
They’ve scored the most points and allowed the fewest. Oh, and they’ve strung together the best record in U Sports women’s basketball.
No wonder, then, that the Saskatchewan Huskies are being hailed as the ones to beat in the Final 8 national tournament, which gets underway on Thursday at TD Place Arena in Ottawa — also the site of the men’s tournament.
The Huskies won the Bronze Baby trophy in 2016, their one and only. In 2019-20, they finished the regular season at 18-2 (a record mirrored by the Calgary Dinos), then went into playoffs and rattled off three wins en route to the Canada West crown.
It wasn’t necessarily an easy task for the Huskies, though. They held off a late drive by Victoria in the quarter-finals, then had to battle back from a six-point deficit late in their semifinal contest against UBC. In the end, though, they’ll make their 12th nationals appearance in 13 seasons.
Saskatchewan is led by Summer Masikewich, a fourth-year forward from Calgary who averaged 17.4 points per game and 9.1 rebounds.
The Huskies’ first-round game is against eighth-seeded Carleton (which is co-hosting the tournament with the Ottawa Gee-gees and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group). The Ravens were 15-7 during the season and 1-1 in the playoffs. Alyssa Cerino is their big shooter as she averaged 16.3 points.
They’re playing in front of a home crowd, so how much of an advantage will that be for the Ravens? That game gets underway at 6 p.m. MT. on Thursday.
Slotted second in the pre-tournament seeding is Brock University, winner of the Ontario conference. Point guard Melissa Tatti is the leading Badger in points (18.5) and assists (6.6). Samantha Keltos is the top rebounder.
In what may be the best game of the first round, the Badgers will play the Calgary Dinos in their quarter-final, the tipoff is at 1 p.m. The Dinos flirted with the top ranking in the country this season, finishing up at No. 2 heading into the Canada West playoffs.
But a pesky Alberta squad gave them more than they could handle in the semis, awarding the Pandas a path to nationals and leaving Calgary to see if they’d get the wildcard berth. Due to their excellence during the year, it was a given.
The Dinos are led by Latvian guard Liene Stalidzane and homegrown wing Erin Mcintosh. A powerful offensive strategy has led Calgary all season long and there’s no reason to think that strategy won’t be at work once again in a tough quarter-final matchup.
The Pandas, meanwhile, will attempt to parlay their fine Canada West showing into something greater this week. Seeded fifth, Alberta takes on fourth-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (4 p.m.).
Alberta upset both Saskatchewan and Calgary during the last month of the season, setting the stage for a strong run led by conference first-team all-star Vanessa Wild. Wild posted 18 points per game, including 39 against Mount Royal in November, a team single game record.
Laval won its second consecutive RSEQ championship by defeating the Citadins of UQAM in that final. The Rouge et Or, 12-4 during the season, were led by conference defensive player of the year Khaleann Caron-goudreau. The former Texas Longhorn also had the best offensive output on the club, with 11.2 points per game.
The first game on the day will see the third-seeded Ryerson Rams taking on No. 6 UPEI Panthers (11 a.m.). The Rams were in the national conversation all season, peaking at No. 2 at one point as they racked up an 18-4 record.
Junior guard and second team all-star Marin Scotten propelled the team with 17 PPG. Scotten stepped in admirably after the excellent guard Jama Bin-edward went down with an injury after 10 games.
The Panthers, 17-3, won their first Atlantic conference championship in 22 years when they defeated rival Acadia in the AUS final. UPEI is propelled by its supremely talented backcourt duo of Jenna Mae Ellsworth and Reese Baxendale, 20.5 and 19 points PPG, respectively. Ellsworth was named AUS all-star for the fourth consecutive year, as well as conference MVP and top defensive player — the epitome of the well-rounded player.
UPEI is one of four schools taking part — the others are Brock, Laval and Ryerson — that have never won a national title in women’s basketball.
Live streaming for the event is available free at Cbcsports.ca and CBC Gem.