UBC’s women’s basketball team earned a gritty 55–50 win over the Saint Mary’s University (SMU) Huskies Thursday night in front of a rowdy home crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, advancing them to the U Sports national semifinals.
SMU got on the board first, with two quick buckets, while UBC seemed to suffer passing issues, turning over the ball. The Huskies capitalized, building momentum off rebounds, open space and a three-pointer by Marlo Steenbakkers. While T-Birds Mona Berlitz and Jessica Clarke cut down their deficit, the T-Birds finished the first quarter down 20–15.
In the second quarter, U Sports Rookie of the Year Keira Daly made her way through traffic to set the tone. Defence continued to stay tight, but Clarke managed a beautiful and-one play halfway through to tie the game at 20. The two teams then traded points until 5 from Daly put UBC ahead 27–25. After two Berlitz free throws, the ‘Birds led 29–25 at half.
However, the Huskies bounced back after an and-one play by star player Clara Gascoigne, coming within one point. The defensive tension on the court continued, with the lead switching back and forth (16 times in total). With less than a minute left, SMU took the lead but Berlitz tied it at 38. Clarke picked up a rebound under the net for a buzzer-beater — and the lead.
“I know you’re supposed to know the time you score, but I did not know it was the end of the quarter,” Clarke said after the game. “It was just a scramble under the hoop and I was able to grab the ball and get my shot off, so I'm glad I was able to get it off.”
Now a two-point game, tensions were high. Clarke put the ‘Birds up early and continued to defensively hold back SMU. Sara Toneguzzi got the crowd on their feet after a fast-break layup to increase the lead to 46–40. The Huskies nailed a three right after, cutting the deficit in half, but Toneguzzi responded with one of her own. Points went back and forth but UBC held onto their lead until, with just seconds left, Olivia Weekes went to the foul line and bumped up the final score to 55–50. When the final buzzer rang, the home crowd cheered as the T-Birds celebrated.
UBC now faces a rematch of the Canada West (CW) championship against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday. The 'Birds dropped the game to the Huskies and settled for CW silver.
“I think we just gotta get focused … Gage [Grassick] is having a great year, Player of the Year,” said Clarke. “She killed us in our last game, so really just locking in on what we need to do with her and stay focused.”
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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