Turnovers in lineup no problem for women
‘We can win these tight games’
Usually turnovers prove costly on the basketball court.
However, the University of Saskatchewan women’s basketball squad has not let the other team capitalize on its continued turnover of veteran players.
The U of S Huskies have experienced plenty of changes during these past two seasons. This includes the loss of three graduates in the off-season along with head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who is away on a one-year professional leave of absence.
Even so, the hoop Huskies rolled through the pre-season in surprising style, racking up a five-game winning streak and Ryerson tournament win to go against a pair of losses.
“If you think of our national final two years ago, it’s a completely new set of faces up on the stage,” says interim head coach Jill Humbert, who was still playing with the team two seasons ago.
“They’re a very talented group and more athletic than we have been in the past. We have some longer bodies and people who can jump higher, run faster and do all those things you can’t teach — they just have that athletic ability.
“That’s going to show through in our defensive abilities and also our offensive transition abilities.”
The Huskies will have a core group of returning athletes to work with, including 2012 Canada West rookie of the year Dalyce Emmerson, as well as guards Kabree Howard and Kiera Lyons.
Emmerson made an immediate impact during her rookie season as one of two players in the CIS to average a double-double with 13.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Howard will quarterback the offence after averaging nine points per game and tallying 54 assists last season.
Lyons, who had an outstanding pre-season, started to really come on in the second half of last season. She will be looked at to fulfil one of the vacant starting roles.
Other holdovers include Kelsey Trulsrud, Riley Humbert, Jordyn Halvor- son, Taya Keujer and Tracy Holloway.
New to the team are highly touted high school recruits Kaylee Halvorson, Bailey Johnson and Desarae Hogberg.
Halvorson, a perimeter player with spring-boarded legs, has big-time experience on the international stage. The five-foot-11 Regina product represented Canada at the FIBA Americas under-18 women’s championship. She has also played for Canada on the U-17 women’s Youth Olympic three- on- three team, as well as Canada’s cadette national team.
Johnson was a member of the junior Huskies program, while Hogberg played with Saskatchewan’s provincial team.
Also in the mix is Lakeland College transfer Brittany Shockey.
Gone from the program are graduates Katie Miyazaki, Mary Hipperson and Amy Lackie. Trisha Carriere won’t be playing this season, while Erica Gavel returns to the injured reserve.
For Humbert, there is a comfort “knowing that we still have a winning culture and, yes, we can win these tight games” after watching her team pull off clutch victories in pre-season
“Sometimes you can fold under pressure at the end of the game. For some reason, that has proven to be some of our strongest moments, during the last few minutes, when we make our best decisions and so far we’ve been able to knock down some shots,” she said.
“Hopefully that is something we’ll continue to do as the season goes along.”
Saskatchewan, which posted a 15-5 record in the Canada West last season, claimed bronze in the conference before placing sixth in the CIS national championship tournament.
The Huskies enter the season as the No. 6-ranked team in Canada and the No. 5 seed in the Canada West conference coaches’ poll.
“I’m anticipating some really close games,” Humbert said. “There’ll be some exciting games. There’ll be a steep learning curve.”