Cameron Doherty, Huskie Athletics
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball team out-scored the visiting UNBC Timberwolves by at least six points per quarter en route to a 32-point victory on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court Thursday, Nov. 29.
"UNBC has three really strong players and I thought our depth wore them down," said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis. "To see players come off the bench and the level of play not dip at all is fun to watch, I think we are starting to build some confidence in more players and that's translating to some pretty good things happening on the court."
Saskatchewan's defence limited UNBC to shooting just 29 per cent from the field in the game and also won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the visitors by 24 in the contest.
Sabine Dukate went six-for-11 from three-point range to lead all scorers with 24 points. Summer Masikewich was hot on Dukate's heels with 17 points and also added nine rebounds in the contest.
Madison Landry, Maria Mongomo and Vasiliki Louka all broke double-digits for the Timberwolves, scoring 17, 13 and 11 points respectively. Louka, who leads the conference in rebounds, also added 13 boards for the double-double.
The win was the Huskies' fifth in a row, all of which have come by over 30 points and moves them to a record of 9-2, good enough for sole possession of first place in Canada West.
"I am liking the progression, I think we're getting better, we are getting contributions from more people and I think that was key tonight," said Thomaidis.
On the other side of things, the Timberwolves have now lost three straight games after starting the season hot and are sixth in the conference with a record of 6-3.
The Huskies came out of the gates on fire and Dukate went five-for-seven from beyond-the-arc for 15 points in the opening frame. As a team Saskatchewan shot 43.5 per cent from the floor and at one point held a 22-9 lead. Madison Landry almost single-handedly kept the Timberwolves in the game however, with nine points in the opening frame to limit the damage to 30-19 after the first quarter.
Defence was the story of the second quarter as UNBC was able to limit the Huskies from three-point range, allowing the visitors to work their way back into the contest. At one point the Timberwolves got the lead down to eight, but Saskatchewan ended the half on a 12-2 run to take an 18-point into the break. Five points from Canada West's second leading scorer Maria Mongomo paced both teams in the frame.
That lead would only increase in the second half as Saskatchewan scored 24 and 20 in the third and fourth quarters respectively while holding the Timberwolves to 16 and 14.
These same two teams will be back in action for their final regular season games of 2018 tomorrow, Friday Nov. 30 on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court inside the PAC.