Misskey bids farewell to Bobcat career

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This article was published 14/02/2023 (1147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Bobcats sent captain Chelsea Misskey off in style. Specifically, her signature double-braid hairstyle she sported for every Canada West women’s basketball game over the past two years.

It’s a fairly new tradition, one they started by copying 2021-22 fifth-year Adrianna Proulx’s game-day hair for a Senior Night afterparty. This time, they rocked the braids for Misskey’s final game, a 90-71 loss to the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday.

“We ran it through Chels to make sure we weren’t stealing her thunder and she was like ‘Absolutely, that is the best thing. If all of you look like me, that’s perfect.’” Eden Tabin said with a laugh. “Honestly, a lot of people look good in it.

“… We just wanted to give a little homage, other than cheering our faces off.”

“It was awesome,” Misskey added. “It was a really good way for them to honour my last game and last game as a Bobcat.

“I mean, I’m forever going to be a Bobcat in my heart but it’s definitely going to be a lot different not being with these girls.”

The Warman, Sask., product didn’t expect to stay with the Bobcats this long. Of course, COVID-19 pushed her fourth and fifth years back, but the move six hours away from home was full of unknowns.

Misskey was a standout at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon, also playing for Team Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Slam Basketball and the Prairie Elite Basketball League’s Junior Huskies. She wasn’t getting a ton of U Sports attention, however, until then BU coach Novell Thomas connected with her during a Bobcats’ road trip to the U of S.

They went for dinner at her favourite restaurant, Earls, and she liked what he had to say about the program.

“I immediately felt like I had a click there and a connection. I could picture myself in a Bobcat jersey and after that, that’s all that was on my mind,” Misskey said.

“I was leaving my family and coming into a brand new one that was going to welcome me with open arms … I’m coming to a new place but I’m going to be welcomed,” she added. “I trusted him to tell me straightforward, he never beat around the bush, was always right to the point of what I needed to hear and I think that helped me grow as a basketball player.”

Misskey quickly latched on to then second-year Proulx, who graduated last season and remains one of her best friends. It was a somewhat daunting scenario, however, with a bunch of fourth- and fifth-years on a team that went 8-12 the season prior, reaching the league playoffs for the first time in decades.

Misskey said it was nerve-racking, and that while club and high school coaches tried to explain what post-secondary ball was like, nothing could truly prepare a player for it.

“They’ve got all this experience and they know what’s going on and expect you to just get in there and start running with it. That’s not really how it goes,” Misskey said. “There were practices I was so scared I’d go 10 minutes without subbing in because I was scared to ask them for a sub.

“I remember Mik (Mikaela Stanton) coming up, giving me that pat on the back and saying ‘Come in for me.’ It gives you that ease as a teammate.”

Misskey chuckles now, thinking about how calm and collected those veterans like Lauren Anderson and Logan Biccum seemed.

“Once you get to be up there and you are one of the veterans, it’s just as nervous, just as stressful but you learn how to deal with it a little bit better,” Misskey said.

The five-foot-five guard played about 12 minutes per game, averaging 2.8 points her rookie year as Brandon went 3-17. She elevated her game and her minutes climbed with it during a 5-15 sophomore year and 1-19 third campaign.

Following what would have been the 2020-21 season, the Bobcats received the shocking news that Thomas stepped down to move back to British Columbia. Misskey pictured him being her only head coach.

“It was a big shock … I remember crying immediately when Novell broke the news to us,” Misskey said. “It was a little uncomfortable at first but I sat in on James (Bambury’s) interview when they were in the hiring process … he was my by far top pick and I was so ecstatic when they came out that he was going to be our head coach.

“(Bambury’s) going to be a lifelong mentor for me and someone that I’m always going to look up to if I need advice on anything, whether it’s basketball or if I want to pursue my coaching career.”

Misskey had career-highs of 7.7 points and 25.9 minutes per game in 2021-22, only to top them again with 9.8 ppg and 28.6 mpg entering Friday’s game. Bambury recognized the challenge Misskey and Proulx faced, changing coaches and systems that late in their careers.

He’s impressed with how the feisty guard not only accepted her role but expanded her game over the past two seasons.

“She’s a gritty human being,” Bambury said. “She’s hyper-competitive but she’s willing to stick to it … for me coming in and her already being in fourth year, the amount she was willing to take in and even adapt, to shape more to what we needed proves she was willing to do whatever it took to try and compete as well as she could.”

It’s no secret Misskey liked getting under opponents’ skin, or in more frank terms, wasn’t afraid to commit cheap fouls. That stuff is more acceptable for a backup guard than a starter and captain, and the biggest growth Bambury saw came early this season. Last year, he remembers plays that didn’t go Misskey’s way and seeing her take a bad foul or otherwise react poorly.

In the season opener against nationally-ranked Regina, however, she displayed that growth following a perceived missed call. “I saw her breathe, centre herself and then show words of encouragement to one of her teammates,” Bambury said. “… It proves to you that old dogs do learn new tricks.

“Wow, for someone who is that competitive to fight her natural instinct, it just proved how all-in she was on what I asked of her.”

Misskey’s season could have ended in an instant. She collided with a semi-truck on the Trans Canada Highway heading home for Christmas and hit the ditch, rolling four times. She was transported to the hospital in Moosomin, Sask., and her dad picked her up five hours later.

Misskey sustained some minor injuries and wasn’t 100 per cent for the first game of the second semester but battled through. She was determined to play 10 and willed herself to do so.

“There’s been hard times and especially the last two years have been a grind,” Misskey said. “But the number-one thing I’ve learned from it in all my six years is ‘stick your mind to it’ and if you love something, whether it’s going your way or not, the ups and downs, you’re still going to get something out of it.”

The Bobcats shocked the Timberwolves with their best game of the season on Friday, an 82-79 win to avoid an 0-20 season. Misskey had 18 points while Piper Ingalls dropped 24 on 50 per cent three-point shooting.

One night later, the T-Wolves played like their season was on the line. Well, because it was. They needed a win and a Lethbridge loss to make the top 12 and pulled it off.

Brandon kept it close at 24-22 after 10 minutes, with some simply phenomenal passing and hustle plays to set up pretty buckets. However, it gave up a 12-2 run early in the second quarter and trailed 47-36 at halftime.

Tabin went down in agony with 3:28 left in the second quarter, clutching her right knee. She returned to the bench in a big brace and on crutches during the second half.

The severity of the injury was unclear after the game.

“We’re going to wait and make sure it’s getting assessed properly,” Bambury said. “It’s clearly her knee and it was rough contact, rough landing. It’s really unfortunate. You hate seeing it any time but we started playing harder and harder and harder throughout the year and unfortunately, stuff like that happens.

“It is a testament to the fact that they continue to play and push through contact and adversity.”

The T-Wolves extended the lead to 66-48 after three quarters and coasted to the final playoff berth as the Pronghorns lost to the Alberta Pandas.

Misskey checked out with just over two minutes left and had her Senior Night presentation after the final horn. Her little sister, Cara, made the trip with her family even though her Regina Cougars played on the weekend. She’s sidelined with what could be a season-ending knee injury.

It didn’t take a keen observer to realize to watch the Bobcats hoist Misskey over their shoulders after the game and realize she’s leaving a big hole on this team.

“Me and her became really close over the past two years and it’s going to suck without her next year,” Ingalls said. “She’s always super welcoming and a great leader. I’ve always looked up to her … She’s always there for anyone to come up to her and ask for advice. I know I do all the time.”

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