Cougars savour ‘experience of a lifetime’ in China
Things are about to get back to normal for four members of the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team.
Sara Hubenig, Michaela Kleisinger, Charlotte Kot and Katie Polischuk spent the past week in Xiamen, China, as Canada’s women’s team in a world university three-on-three tournament.
The quartet won the silver medal, but also got to experience the Chinese culture.
“It was an amazing experience,” Hubenig said Monday from the Vancouver airport before the contingent boarded its flight to Regina, where classes, practices and jobs await.
“I’ve said to (the others) 100 times that I would never have gone to China, so it was amazing to see.”
The Cougars, who were joined on the trip by U of R assistant sports information director Andrew Hamilton, experienced life in Xiamen during their stay.
The language barrier with the locals was significant, the food was different, and the way things were laid out — from the city’s streets to its facilities — was new to the group.
“The way everything was set up wasn’t something we were used to or had ever been exposed to before,” Polischuk said. “But it was definitely cool to see how they live their life and how it is on the other side of the world.
“We’re definitely glad we got to see it, but I don’t know if I could ever live there,” she added with a chuckle. “It was a little too different for my liking.”
The game also was something new. Three-on-three basketball is played on half a court with a 12-second shot clock. Games last until one team scores 21 points or until 10 minutes elapse, whichever comes first.
“It’s a fast game,” Hubenig said. “The physicality of the game is very different from how we play, too. Things that would be called fouls in our league weren’t called at all, so we had to go up strong.”
Despite being new to the game, the Cougars adjusted quickly and won their three pool games (21-15 over Peking, 21-4 over Russia and 20-15 over Thailand).
“We went on a nice run halfway through the first game and that was all it really took for us,” Polischuk said. “We’re so used to playing with each other, and (during the tournament) we just had more space and fewer people. We were fine.
“We didn’t really change a ton of what we do with the university team. We tried to run some of the same sets and do the same type of movements and it seemed to work for us.”
Regina beat Slovenia 11-9 in a quarter-final before defeating China 19-8 in semifinal. The Cougars’ run of success ended in the final, which they lost 21-14 to Lithuania.
“It’s by no means disappointing,” Hubenig said. “Of course it’s amazing to win gold, but silver is an accomplishment in itself.
“It’s the first time any of us have ever participated in three-onthree, let alone in a world event against so many amazing basketball players and people who have played in lots of three-on-three tournaments before. It’s definitely an accomplishment.”
Polischuk was the tournament’s second-leading scorer with 47 points in six games and tied for the tournament lead with 14 twopoint shots (what would be threepointers in five-on-five).
Kot was sixth in the scoring race with 39 points, Kleisinger tied for 29th with 13 points, and Hubenig tied for 42nd with seven points.
“It was the experience of a lifetime, getting to represent your country and your university on the other side of the world,” Polischuk said.
“To perform like we did and get as far as we did, it says a lot for Canadian university basketball. We’re pretty happy.”