Huskies’ guard Lackie not lacking in perseverance

For four years, Amy Lackie was biding her time with the University of Saskatchewan behind star shooting guard Kim Tulloch.

Perseverance comes to mind when describing Lackie. Certainly, the Saskatoon Minor Basketball Association product and Aden Bowman Bears graduate paid her dues with the Huskies in a backup role while seeing limited action.

In this, her final season as a Huskies, Lackie has been rewarded with more court-time and starting assignments. Always a positive influence off the court, she has watched her role on the court expand beyond all the intangibles.

“She means a lot to the team,” says Saskatchewan head coach Lisa Thomaidis, whose No. 3-ranked Huskies wrap up Canada West regular-season play tonight, at 6:15 p.m. in the PAC on the U of S campus, against Canada’s No. 1-rated team, the University of Regina Cougars.

“A lot of her value is seen behind the scenes. She’s been a great leader for us. She’s a quiet leader, but she sets such a great example, especially for the young kids. There’s such continuity there — you can always count on her.”

Statistically, Lackie hasn’t lit it up like some of her teammates. She averaged less than two points a game for her first three years as a Huskies. Even so, however, her three-point and freethrow shooting percentage ranked among the best on the team. As a sophomore, she pitched in with 25 assists and 11 steals.

This season, Lackie has averaged 17 minutes per game. She has averaged five points a game. Overall, she has 32 rebounds, 20 assists, seven steals and a blocked shot.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed by Thomaidis, who sees Lackie as that veteran player who has been around and who can contribute in a number of different ways at different times.

“She’s so dependable,” noted Thomaidis. “She’s in her working as hard as anybody else, if not harder, during the off-season. She’s always coming in to shoot. She’s always doing individual (workouts). She’s a student of the game. Not a lot of flash, but supercritical to our success the past five years.

“She’s had a little tough in that she’s had to play behind Kim Tulloch for her entire career, but you need those ones for a successful program, the ones who are going to play for five years and are not necessarily getting the 35 minutes a game but are the strong role players who back up the others. It’s great to see her start this year and play a bigger role than she has in the past.”

Lackie, along with Katie Miyazaki and Mary Hipperson, are graduating fifthyear Huskies to be honoured at tonight’s game.

Lackie has stuck around to grind out five seasons, which included a silver medal a year ago at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship and a bronze medal in 2010.

“I’ve been really excited and really happy — it’s been a really fun year,” said Lackie, a 5-foot-10 perimeter player. “We weren’t expected, really, to do as well as we have, but a lot of the girls have stepped up, which has made it fun and we’ve been really successful.

“We’re kind of seen as the underdog, so that’s a good position to be, always.”

No matter the outcome tonight, the U of S will play host to a first-round Canada West quarter-final best-ofthree series at home in the PAC next weekend against the third-place team from the Pacific Division, be it the Trinity Western University Spartans or Victoria Vikes.

“Just our teamwork (is key),” said Lackie, “and having a different person step up each night, so they (opponents) don’t really know to key in on, that helps.

“I’m just going to focus on these next few weeks and see what happens.”