EDMONTON – The CIS No.3 ranked University of Alberta Pandas basketball team recorded its 21st consecutive conference win thanks to a 74-67 victory over the No.6 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
Alberta's last regulation loss was November 8, 2013, a string of 21 straight wins between then and now, almost a calendar year. The CIS record for consecutive conference wins in women's basketball belongs to the Winnipeg Wesmen, a program that won 87 straight conference games between the 1992 and 1995 seasons.
The Pandas swept the Saskatchewan Huskies to open the 2014-15 season, winning 64-57 on Friday and 74-67 on Saturday. Fourth-year guard Jessilyn Fairbanks paced Alberta's offence once again, finishing with a team high 17 points, including the last nine consecutive points the Pandas put up, all of which were free-throws. She also hauled in a team high seven rebounds and game high eight assists, just missing out on the elusive triple-double, while guard Renee Bryne chipped in with 15 points, including one of three Alberta's three-pointers.
The Huskies got a double-double from reigning Canada West MVP, Dalyce Emmerson (10 points and 11 rebounds), while Desarae Hogberg led everyone on the floor with 21 points, including a perfect 100% (4-4) from beyond the arc. Laura Dally added 12 in the loss, while Kabree Howard picked up 11 points.
The Pandas blew the doors off the Huskies to start the game, ripping out to a 9-2 advantage that eventually became 18-8 after the first 10 minutes. They didn't slow from there either, banking another 18 points in the second quarter, while stymying Saskatchewan, and holding them to just 20 points in the first half. The Alberta offence put back 55% of their first half shots from the field, while limiting the Huskies to just seven buckets from the field on 28 attempts.
Saskatchewan, however, did find their stroke in the second half, as they began raining three-balls on the Alberta bucket, and slowly chipping away at the lead. While they did outscore their hosts 21-14 in the third quarter, Alberta still maintained a healthy 50-41 advantage.
That lead slipped to just five points in the fourth, as the Huskies continued to roll, including three consecutive three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, but Fairbanks scored nine straight points from the free-throw line, and the defence did the rest as Alberta locked down the 74-67 win.
The Pandas are now 2-0 on the season, while the Huskies fall to 0-2. Alberta returns to action next weekend when they play in Langley, B.C. against the Trinity Western Spartans, while the Huskies head into the "bye" week.