Huskies keep narrow first-place hopes alive

Huskies 75, Dinos 45

The odds of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team finishing atop the Pioneers Division standings may be slim, but they’re not going down without a fight.

The Huskies creamed the Calgary Dinos 73-45 on Friday in the opener of their two-game weekend set.

They improved their record to 16-3, keeping their slim hopes alive heading into the Canada West finale Saturday.

“We want to finish as high as possible,” Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “If we take two this weekend, there’s always a chance we can finish first.”

The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds were tied with the Huskies before hosting Manitoba (117) on Friday.

The Thunderbirds hold the tiebreaker over the Huskies.

“Until all the games are said and done, we’re still in the hunt for that,” Thomaidis said.

But the Huskies took care of their own business on Friday to win their 12th-straight game.

They dominated the Dinos — a team that had beaten them in three of their last four games over the two previous seasons — right from the opening tipoff. They opened up a 35-19 lead by the half and simply cruised from there.

The Huskies have now won 19 in a row at the PAC.

“It was nice to be in control of it most of the game,” Thomaidis said.

Centre Dalyce Emmerson led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds in just 25 minutes of work.

Her imposing presence was also critical in helping the Huskies go 7-for-17 (41.2 per cent) on three-point attempts.

“She’s such a huge advantage for us because teams can’t guard her one-on-one,” Thomaidis said. “There’s always a double team and she’s finding people who are open.”

The playoff picture will sort itself out after Saturday’s games are finished.

For now, Huskies are trying not to think too far ahead.

“It’s hard not to,” Emmerson said. “We’re all excited. We know we have a good spot going into the playoffs. But we’ll make some adjustments and hopefully come back better tomorrow again and go into the playoffs with that.”

On the men’s side, the Huskies (14-5) pulled out an 89-80 victory over the Dinos (12-7). Dadrian Collins paced the attack with 21 points, while Matt Forbes and Ben Baker each poured in 17 to help the Huskies stay atop the Pioneers Division standings.