Huskies playing with a chip on their shoulder
Last year's playoff heartbreak drives top-seeded squad
An early exit from the Canada West playoffs one year ago still weighs heavily on the minds of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, despite being seeded No. 1 for the U Sports Women's Final 8 national basketball championship this week in Edmonton.
Being denied a trip to nationals in 2023 does not sit well with the well-established Huskies program.
Head coach Lisa Thomaidis calls it a “chip on our shoulder.”
Saskatchewan has won six Canada West women's basketball titles in the last nine years, capturing the 2024 crown with a 73-42 win over the University of Alberta Pandas — the same team that had eliminated the Huskies one year ago.
Last year's disappointment has undoubtedly provided motivation, Thomaidis said.
“I think it's fuelled our whole season,” added Thomaidis, a sixtime Canada West conference coach of the year whose team last won a U Sports national title in 2020 prior to the cancelled 2021 season.
“I think we've come out for this entire season with a bit of a chip on our shoulder and really wanting to show that (last year's loss to the Alberta Pandas) was a one-off, an exception to the rule, without getting to nationals.”
Huskies graduating fifth-year forward Carly Ahlstrom said it was a “super emotional time” coming off the season-ending loss last year.
“It was genuine heartbreak at that time and that, moving into the summer and the fall and our training and prep, we've always had that in the back of our mind that this is what we want to prove this year and we can get back to that,” Ahlstrom said. “But, at the same time, it's not easy to win a Canada West championship, so we're just savouring that and appreciating the effort that goes into it.”
Saskatchewan (19-1 in the Canada West regular season, 3-0 in playoffs) will open up this year's national tournament against No. 8seeded University of Calgary Dinos (16-4, 0-1) on Thursday night.
“Obviously there's never going to be an easy game, especially at the national level,” said Ahlstrom, whose team swept the Dinos with 70-56 and 72-65 wins on Nov. 24-25 in Saskatoon.
“Calgary is great competition … It's nice that we kind of know them but, also, we haven't played them recently. Hopefully there can be some changes we can implement to make it a better game for ourselves and really focus on our own game.”
Should they win Thursday, the Huskies would play the winner between the host Alberta Pandas and Laval Rouge et Or in semifinal action Saturday.
“I think everyone in there has been ranked in the top-10,” Thomaidis said of the field at nationals. “Every game is going to be a tough one. Getting past the first one is going to be difficult. For (Calgary), it's going to be like a home game, a couple of hours up the highway.”
Thomaidis believes her team — despite some illnesses this week — may be peaking at the right time following a dominant showing in the Canada West playoffs.
“Our players played really well in Abbotsford, played with a lot of energy, lot of intention,” Thomaidis said. “They were really connected. It was the best basketball, I think, that we've played all year. Now it's a matter of continuing that.”
While the team features Canada West all-stars Gage Grassick (13 points and four assists per game), Tea Demong (13.8 points per game, 48.9 field-goal percentage) and Ahlstrom (14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game), there's a strong supporting cast and a variety of options for coach Thomaidis. It might be the deepest team she's ever coached.
“We can bring a number of people off the bench who can score, who can defend, who can give us some different things,” she said.
“It's been great … to be able to play a different style, to be able to play with four guards or to be able to play with three guards and two bigs, to be able to match up with our other teams' bigs and have confidence in difference ways.”