At the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on Saturday night, the UBC Thunderbirds suffered a crushing defeat in the women’s national semifinal, losing 85–63 to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Thunderbirds have now fallen to the Huskies twice in seven days, after last week’s Canada West championship.
With two physical teams on the court, defensive play dominated early on — and the first-seeded Huskies were superior. Saskatchewan won the tip-off, and after a minute of back-and-forth, Courtney Primeau and Andrea Dodig put the Huskies up 4–0.
U Sports Rookie of the Year Kiera Daly responded with a shot beyond the arc, putting UBC on the board at 4–3. In the fourth minute, T-Bird Sara Toneguzzi drew a foul on a layup, earning a three-point play. Down 8–6, that was the last time the ‘Birds would be within two points of the Huskies.
The Huskies steadily widened the gap, finding success in the paint and beyond the arc while stifling UBC’s offence. For the remainder of the first period, Saskatchewan outscored UBC 18–6, with back-to-back threes in the eighth minute.
Down 26–12, the T-Birds entered the second period eager to score, with Mona Berlitz quickly narrowing the gap with a layup. Despite the promising start, UBC continued to struggle offensively and defensively; they were also hindered by an injury to guard Olivia Weekes, who had to get stitches.
For the rest of the quarter, the ‘Birds bagged only 12 more points while the Huskies scored 23. By half, the T-Birds faced a 22-point deficit, down 49–27.
The second half was largely uneventful as the Huskies maintained their formidable double-digit lead. Though led by U Sports Player of the Year Gage Grassick, Saskatchewan spread the ball around, with eight different Huskies scoring. Meanwhile, Berlitz and Toneguzzi were the only T-Birds to score double-digit points. But UBC didn’t give up, battling until the final scoreboard read 85–63, one of the largest point differentials in the women’s Final 8 draw so far.
“We did not stop at all … that’s what I’m most proud of,” said UBC head coach Isabel Ormond. “We are playing to the buzzer, it doesn’t matter who’s on the floor.”
The ‘Birds were ultimately doomed by their inability to score against the Saskatchewan defence; the team nearly matched Sask in field goal attempts (60 to 64) but posted an abysmal 35.0 per cent success rate (as opposed to Sask’s 51.6 per cent).
“It's one of those bittersweet moments where I think we played hard,” said Ormond, “and I think we faced a great team that was good and super physical and dictated … [what] was allowed to happen.”
The Thunderbirds now advance to the bronze medal match tomorrow at noon in War Memorial Gym, giving them one last chance to end the season on a high note.
“We have a big game tomorrow,” said Ormond. “We’re planning to bring home some hardware for our program.”
This article is part of our 2025 Final 8 coverage. Follow us at @UbysseySports on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, as well as @theubyssey on TikTok, to follow our U Sports basketball coverage starting March 12.
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