Cameron Doherty, Huskie Athletics
SASKATOON – The hot-shooting University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball team wrapped up the home portion of their 2018-19 regular season schedule with an 88-64 victory over the Alberta Pandas on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court, Saturday, Jan. 26.
Hitting 53.3 per cent of their shots from the floor and winning the battle on the boards by a tally of 39-21, the Huskies moved to 16-2 and their current 12-game winning streak has them atop the Canada West standings with just one weekend left to play.
Alberta meanwhile, showed flashes of strong play throughout the evening but couldn't hang with the Huskies for the whole 40-minutes as they now fall to 14-4 on the season.
The game also served as a farewell to graduating Huskie Maya Olynyk, who was a pivotal member of the Huskies current run that has seen them make their way to U SPORTS National Championships in each of the last five seasons.
Fourth-year guard Sabine Dukate once again led the way for Saskatchewan with 20 points on four-of-six shooting from beyond the arc. Summer Masikewich added 17 points and six rebounds while Katriana Philipenko and Kyla Shand chipped in with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Vanessa Wild had a night for the Pandas, scoring a game-high 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor. Following her were Emma Kary and Jenna Harpe who scored 13 and 10 points in the game.
Saskatchewan came out of the gates knocking down nearly every shot they attempted. Dukate hit all three three-pointers she took in the frame, helping Saskatchewan jump out to a 20-8 lead under five minutes into the game.
From there the Pandas defence would stiffen up however, and with Kary scoring five points in the frame, the lead was down to 25-15 after the opening quarter.
That was a pattern that would follow suit in nearly every quarter, with the Huskies expanding on their lead in a big way at the start of each stanza before the Pandas were able to fight back in the latter stage of the frame.
After standing strong on multiple possessions to force a Panda's shot clock violation and with their offence still firing on all cylinders, Saskatchewan's lead was out to a 43-19 lead before the Pandas would again respond in the second.
Alberta ended the half on a 16-4 run to cut the lead to 12 points at the halftime break.
Starting the third quarter on a 15-3 run of their own thanks to multiple points from five different players, Saskatchewan removed any chance of a potential Pandas comeback.
Both of these teams will end their 2018-19 regular season campaign next weekend.
The Huskies will head south to take on their rivals, the Regina Cougars, a squad that they tangled with in both the Canada West championship and U SPORTS semifinals last season.
Alberta meanwhile, will return to Edmonton and end their regular season slate with a pair of games against the UBC Thunderbirds.