Nationally ranked Huskies stomp Bobcats

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This article was published 15/02/2025 (294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Film directors don’t make their actors move without a reason, or make a cut without a purpose.

The same goes for the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team. Coach Lisa Thomaidis calls the shots and her players seldom need more than one take.

On Friday night, headliner Gage Grassick and the star-studded cast around her rolled to a 116-40 victory over the Brandon University Bobcats (2-17) at the Healthy Living Centre.

Now, the Huskies (17-2) can lock up first place and home-court advantage through the conference playoffs with a win in today’s rematch at 5 p.m.

“You look at our team and how talented each individual (is), but not only that, as a team and how well we play together, we kind of read each other’s minds at times. It is a movie at times because it’s so connected,” said Grassick, who scored a game-high 28 points in her team’s season-high offensive output.

“It’s no possessions off. Every possession we want to score as much as possible, so getting on the O-boards, getting those extra possessions.

“Brandon’s super talented so they forced us to put up some challenging shots. Just taking every opportunity and finding the best shot.”

The Huskies demand everything from a defence. They move the ball and their bodies constantly, drawing defenders in and out like an accordion, since they must respect their interior and long-range scoring ability.

And they kick it up a notch the second a shot goes up, relentlessly crashing the glass until someone finishes.

On defence, they’re fast and physical, making it feel like a win for an opposing guard to even pass to a teammate without turning it over.

“You look at our team and one through 12 we love to pick up full court and put on as much pressure as possible,” Grassick said. “So just being in the lanes, up the lanes, defensive active as possible, then just being able to rotate and help each other.”

They’re ranked No. 3 in the country for a reason, and are worth the price of admission regardless of how badly they’ll beat your team.

Friday’s contest was competitive for all of two minutes, a one-point game before Saskatchewan rattled off a 29-2 run to lead 37-9 after the first quarter.

Amaya McLeod and Faith Clearsky combined for 12 points as the Bobcats actually outscored the Huskies in the first five minutes of the second. But Saskatchewan answered with an 18-0 run capped by a Grassick three-pointer in the dying seconds of the half.

The fourth-year guard had 20 points on 13 shots as her team led 68-24 at the break.

The Huskies looked to their bench in the third as Ella Murphy Wiebe tossed in 11 points while limiting the Bobcats to seven, making it 89-31 heading to the final frame.

Saskatchewan almost tacked on 30 more, as Murphy Wiebe ended with 23 points and Logan Reider had 22.

McLeod led BU with eight.

The Huskies shot 53.5 per cent to the Bobcats’ 27.1. They had 26 offensive rebounds and 58 total while Brandon had 18 defensive boards and 30 total.

And you can bet the conference leaders will break down film before today’s game and find a few things to improve upon.

“It starts with our coaching staff,” Grassick said. “They push us every day to be better. Every game we might have won but what can we do to get better and get prepared for the next game.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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