Breaking down the film
Masikewich and Huskies ready to host Regina Cougars in Canada West final
Summer Masikewich didn’t take a pair of earlier losses to the University of Regina Cougars very lightly.
There she was, watching film, dissecting plays and scouting her opponents on her own after practice.
This was done in advance of the Canada West women’s basketball conference championship final Friday (7 p.m.) at the PAC in Saskatoon, where the University of Saskatchewan Huskies will meet the Cougars for the fourth consecutive time in the Canada West final.
“I wanted to go back and watch those games against Regina because you can learn from watching it two, three times,” says the thirdyear Huskies forward Masikewich, who has averaged 14 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this season.
“There’s stuff I missed. I think it really helps me. It helps me prepare for the game. It makes me feel confident, going back and watching and knowing what our game plan is now.”
The Huskies closed out the regular season with a pair of losses to the Cougars in Regina, where the host team won 82-76 and 78-64.
Playing as a team, defensively, is the key to changing that, Masikewich says.
“Being there for each other, helping each other and not leaving each other out to just play one-on-one defence,” the 6-foot-2 player says. “That’s what we’ve been working on, and that’s huge for us.”
Masikewich and the Huskies are looking for a big response Friday at the PAC, where they have yet to lose a game all season with a perfect 14-0 record.
U of S head coach Lisa Thomaidis was quick to point out Masikewich’s attention to detail and extra work off the court.
Summer has proven to be a player for all seasons.
“She is a student of the game,” says Thomaidis, whose Huskies finished the regular season with the third-best record in the conference but still earned the No. 1 seed for the playoffs due to a higher RPI rating.
“She rises to the occasion.” It’s the sixth-consecutive trip to the conference championship final for the Huskies, who were runners-up a year ago to Regina but went on to defeat the Cougars at nationals in the semifinal before settling for silver.
“Regina’s playing really well. They took care of Calgary (in semifinals last weekend). Calgary was a dangerous opponent and I thought Regina really looked strong and looked the superior team. They took care of us a couple of weeks ago, too, so we have a lot of work to be done,” says Thomaidis.
“I really don’t think we played particularly well against Regina, although we had them in a good spot Friday night but couldn’t finish them off. It’s going to be a tall task, for sure, but, again, this is what we want going into nationals. We want a very tough test. We want to see how we measure up against them and see what we can do Friday night.”
The Cougars have a lot of weapons, adds Thomaidis.
“They attack the basket extremely hard. They run a lot of ballscreen action. They put pressure on you at the rim and pressure on you at the perimeter. They’re good three-point shooters and they love to get out in transition; we have to slow them down.
“They’re playing better defensively as well. They’re doing some different things. We’ll have to have a full gamut ready for them.”
Having the support of a full house at the PAC could only help.
“We love playing at home,” says Thomaidis. “The opportunity to play for a banner on your home court does not come around every day. We’re really trying to enjoy the moment and every single day we get the opportunity to play on this home court and hopefully feed off a little bit of that energy Friday night.”
DOG TALES: Masikewich was named the Canada West defensive player of the year Thursday, while teammate Sabine Dukate was selected as the Canada West player of the year. Dukate, a native of Latvia, led the conference in three-pointers with 67, and was second in three-point percentage at 43.
She averaged 23.2 points per game. Dukate is the fourth Huskie in program history to win the award, joining Dalyce Emmerson (2014), Kim Tulloch (2011) and Sarah Crooks (2006, 2007).