For the UBC women’s basketball team, the postseason has been nothing but close contests. After coming up clutch in their semifinal game, toppling their head coach Dave Taylor’s previous team, the University of Regina Cougars, they earned their spot in the Canada West finals which they hosted, with one of the largest crowds of the season in attendance.
“It was great to have the game at home and have our crowd behind us,” said fifth-year guard Sara Toneguzzi.
Their opponents were a surprising and somewhat unfamiliar matchup. In the other Canada West semifinal game, the University of Calgary Dinos faced off against the undefeated Saskatchewan Huskies, who were the reigning conference and national champions — the clear favourites to repeat, at both levels. In one of the biggest upsets of the season, Calgary stunned the Huskies, snapping Saskatchewan’s 51-game winning streak, in a close one, 61–58, punching their ticket to the Canada West finals.
“We really hammered in the game plan all week, and we executed [it] perfectly in order to get that win,” said Sarah Besselink, the Dino’s head coach. “It is a very tough environment to play in, and they are a great, great basketball team … That helped us today as well.”
This was the first time ever that UBC and Calgary met up in the Canada West finals. The last time they even played against each other at all was back in Nov. 2024. Despite the unfamiliarity, Taylor and the T-Birds’ had come prepared.
“I've been watching them a little bit since Christmas, because I thought at one point that was maybe going to be our matchup come playoffs,” said Taylor. “They play a very physical style, and I think at times it took us a while to adjust to that.”
These teams match up very closely. Both Besselink and Taylor are in their first years with the programs as head coaches. As well, both teams are incredibly veteran-heavy, with many fifth-years. They both had strong regular seasons, being powered by their depth and vast experience to end with identical 16–4 records. This was set up to be a fierce nail-biter match — and it was.
“We were excited because we're kind of evenly matched with them,” said Toneguzzi. “We were always gonna give our best effort.”
Entering the fourth quarter, neither team had pulled ahead, tied at 42. Then, in the final 10 minutes, UBC started to stumble. Down by eight with less than 30 seconds left, it seemed like it would be over, but the Thunderbirds played right until the final whistle. Third-year Kiarra Kelly nailed a three-pointer to bring the score to 61–57 with only six seconds left. Unfortunately, UBC’s luck had finally run out, and they were unable to complete the comeback. The Dinos came out on top 63–57, and the T-Birds had to settle for silver.
“We had set goals early on to get to a Canada West Final and put ourselves in a good position to win,” said Besselink. “They have bought in, and they have believed in themselves every step of the way so I'm super proud of them.”
“Tough loss, for sure, but I'm so proud of our group and our girls. We fought to the very end,” said Toneguzzi. “We knew Calgary was going to come out hard and they did, and we pushed back.”
The ending was disappointing for UBC. With the promise of a potential conference title for the first time since 2015, you’d expect the ‘Birds to start hot. They did not. The pace started off sluggish for both teams, who were struggling to score. With tough defence and intense pressure from either side, it was a battle to even get to the net, and when they were able to break through and get to the glass, they were struggling to connect.
“Once you get down [to] these last few [games], everybody's a great defensive team, and scoring is going to be hard,” said Taylor. “It's almost the team that makes fewer mistakes, because nothing's going to be easy.”
Late in the quarter, however, the offence started picking up for both teams, who seemed to have found their footing. In the final minute of the first, fifth-year ‘Bird Katie Hartman spun to the net and tried to finish with a reverse layup. When it didn’t go in, another T-Bird, fifth-year star Olivia Weekes grabbed the board and was able to finish to tie the score at 12.
Weekes was leading UBC’s offence in the first quarter, doing it all for the T-Birds. This continued throughout the game, as she ended with 19 points and seven rebounds. Despite her best efforts, it was still a tight start, as neither side could pull away, trading baskets and the lead back and forth late into the quarter. In the final possession of the frame, Hartman dished it to fifth-year McMaster transfer Cassie Joli-Coeur in the corner to make a jumper, tying the score at 14 before the end of the first quarter. UBC’s veteran players were holding together the team’s offence to start, as the only T-Birds making it onto the board were in their fourth- or fifth-year.
With the score tied after one, it seemed like it would be yet another nailbiter for the Thunderbirds. Neither team held more than a two point lead at any time in the first quarter — but that wouldn’t continue into the second quarter.
The Thunderbirds got into a strong rhythm on offence, playing complementary basketball, as their defence began to create more opportunities. Whenever a Calgary shot wouldn’t go, UBC went right to the glass for the board. While the Dinos were fighting tooth-and-nail for possession, UBC was winning those battles and capitalizing on them. After winning possession, Toneguzzi stutter-stepped to evade the Dinos’ defence and once she had created some space, she was able to fire off a jumper for UBC to take back the lead, up 18–16.
With their fierce pressure on defence, the Thunderbirds were able to get back-to-back shut downs on Calgary, allowing them to extend their fledgling lead, going up 21–16. But those points didn’t come easy. On the other end of the court, UBC dominated the boards to earn second chance shots and properly capitalize on their defensive stops.
With this, UBC continued to build momentum, playing with speed and intensity. UBC was playing better as a connected five on the court, hitting their shots to fend off the Dinos from regaining the lead. In a frantic moment, with the T-Birds almost turning the ball over, they kept it alive as forward Sofia Bergman saved it for UBC and quickly tapped it to Toneguzzi. Sitting at the top of the arc, she went to take a three–pointer while a Calgary defender behind her made the mistake of trying to block it, fouling her in the process.
This was Calgary’s most significant slump in the game thus far, taking a timeout after the foul, needing to regroup. But UBC kept pushing. Once back to the play, Toneguzzi was perfect from the line to extend their lead. From there, UBC earned the biggest lead of the second quarter, as rookie Brooke Wagner tipped a rebound to Weekes in the paint. Weekes turned to shoot at the net, putting the T-Birds up by ten, leading 28–18 over halfway through the second quarter.
UBC controlled the majority of the second quarter, which was extremely promising for them. In their quarterfinals and semifinals, they had trouble sustaining a strong offensive presence, trailing for most of both games. Although they were able to turn those games around, it wasn’t a habit they’d want to carry forward. Starting off on a stronger foot earlier is something the T-Birds will need to carry into nationals, where they will be playing many unfamiliar teams with little preparation.
However, with only a couple minutes left, UBC returned to their out-of-sync play that had been causing them problems this postseason. The Dinos, who had only scored four points up to that point of the quarter, went on an 8–0 run to quickly flip the game around and close the gap to 28–25.
What had been a dominant quarter for UBC quickly turned into the same close race that the first quarter had been. The T-Birds made some offensive mistakes, turning the ball over and hitting some defensive snags, putting Calgary in bonus. The Dinos — who had been struggling to score from the field — were not having the same issue from the line. They were perfect for free throws in the first half, making all 11 to help keep close with UBC, bringing the score to 30–28, with the Thunderbirds barely leading at halftime.
“Going into halftime, we gave up a 10–2 run in the last three minutes, and that ended up coming back and hurting us,”said Taylor.
Heading into this game, UBC may have been counting their blessings that they didn't have to face Saskatchewan — the defending champs who beat them in last year’s conference finals. But if the Dinos had proven anything in their upset win, it was their toughness, and they were showing it against the T-Birds.
As the third quarter started, it was once again anyone’s game to win. The play had returned to the way both teams started the game — a close, defensive contest with both teams struggling on offence. Calgary was especially relentless early, as they earned a steal, getting the ball off to fourth-year guard Kourtney Oss for fastbreak points. This gave them their first lead since early in the second quarter, going up 33–32.
It was another low-scoring quarter, as neither team held the offensive spark to connect and convincingly take the lead. UBC’s offence instead came in flashes. Weekes, taking the ball on the perimeter, was looking for a lane or open teammate. When it looked like she was going to drive to the net, she instead opted to take the three, draining it. UBC took back a one point lead, going up 39–38 late in the third quarter. They kept pushing.
With less than a minute left, Joli-Coeur connected again as she went to put the ball up on a second chance shot, making the basket and drawing a foul. With the three-point play and little time left, it seemed like UBC would get to hold onto the lead going into the last quarter of the game. However, the Dinos foiled this as they sank a jumper just before time ran out, to tie the score at 42 before the fourth quarter.
With only ten minutes left in the match, the ‘Birds were yet again in a tight race. In both previous rounds, they were able to come out on top when it mattered most. They’d need to again.
“This [was] a type of grind-it-out game you're going to have,” said Taylor.
UBC started off strong, with a smart and fast play off the bat. Guard Jade Huynh cut in quickly to drive to the net, but she faked the shot to pass the ball off to Toneguzzi, who was open in the paint to score the first points of the fourth quarter. However, Calgary was set on staying with them. A few possessions later, fifth-year and Canada West third-team all-star Pollyanna Storie took back the lead 46–44 with a jumper of her own. Storie caused problems on offence for the T-Birds all game, as she ended with 16 points, leading the Dinos’ offence.
Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, they started to falter again — just as they had to end the first half. This time, however, the Dinos were able to create enough momentum to propel themselves into the lead. Halfway through the fourth, the Dinos had their biggest lead at that point, 51–46. Trailing with only five minutes left, the T-Birds needed to change things up to quickly make up points.
Trying to spark the comeback, Toneguzzi worked hard on defence, forcing the Dinos out of bounds. Toneguzzi had also been a strong force on offence for UBC in this match, earning her season-high for points in a game with 14. Unfortunately, her defensive set-up would not result in much, as the Thunderbirds couldn’t connect on the other end.
With less than thirty seconds left and trailing by seven, UBC needed points fast if they wanted to have any chance of winning the gold medal at home. The sharpshooting Kelly subbed in to do exactly that. As the crowd cheered on their Thunderbirds, Kelly nailed a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left to bring the score to 61–57.
But in the end, there just wasn’t enough time.The T-Birds once again fell short in the Canada West final — for the second year in a row.
“The big thing is that we got done to us, in the fourth quarter, what we had done to Regina and Alberta,” said Taylor. “Understanding that that's what it feels like on the other end, and we don't want that.”
“We take losses personally, but we're a tough team. We know that we have that grit and we have that fire, and this [loss] fuels that even more,” said Toneguzzi. “We're still in that same mentality to push forward and keep that energy high, because that's what we do best.”
Even with the loss, however, their season isn’t over. With the end of the conference finals, there is only one goal left for the T-Birds to focus on — the U Sports Final 8 national championships. Starting Mar. 5, the Thunderbirds will play for their chance to win big on the national stage. UBC is seeded fourth after losing the Canada West final.
This loss unfortunately stings a little more, as it puts UBC in a very tough place for their first match of Final 8. After dodging them in the conference final, they will have to face off against the defending champs, the Saskatchewan Huskies. The Dinos earned the third seed with this win, sitting just above the Thunderbirds as the 2026 conference champions.
“We still got a lot to go, our season’s far from over,” said Toneguzzi. “We're just excited for nationals.”
“There's no easy game at Nationals. The first one is always the toughest, because everybody's the most prepared,” said Besselink. “[We’re] looking forward to seeing where we're going to end up, and know we'll have a tough first test on Thursday.”
Typically, it’s only the top two teams in the conference that earn a spot at nationals, but with the playoff structure for Final 8, there is a seed akin to a wildcard, determined first by winning percentage in all games against U Sports opponents. Saskatchewan — who was otherwise undefeated on the season before being upset by the Dinos — were the most obvious choice for this seed, setting UBC up to play what might be the best team in the tournament right off the bat.
“We're playing really good teams, and you're gonna have to play your game,” said Taylor.
Although all teams are guaranteed to play two games at Nationals, the first is, in some ways, the most important, as it determines whether or not you will be playing for a medal.
“It is a quick turnaround … and so we're already on [to] nationals,” said Toneguzzi. “We're in our prep mode, ready to attack and really get that first game.”
In last year’s Final 8, the Huskies demolished the Thunderbirds in a dominant semifinals match, winning by 22. Another loss against them at nationals would send them onto the consolation path of the tournament. UBC will have to be at their best to have any hopes to improve upon their placing of fourth last year. They have come up clutch before this postseason, but the question is, will they be able to do it again with everything on the line? Or, will they fall short — as they did in this game.
