Heading into Saskatoon, the UBC women’s basketball team was looking for revenge. This would be their first game against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies this year, with their most recent matchups being last year when the Thunderbirds fell to the Huskies in the Canada West final, leaving with the sting of a 71–59 loss, and later, another loss to the Huskies in the U Sports Final 8 semifinals, with Saskatchewan ending UBC’s season 85–63. However, in the first game of their back-to-back weekend in Saskatoon last Friday, Nov. 21, their attempts for revenge failed, as a relatively close game quickly turned into a blowout — losing 80–51 against the defending national champions.
While this game was a Canada West final rematch, this T-Birds squad has some notable changes on their roster from the last time they faced Saskatchewan. Perhaps the most significant of these is a new voice behind the bench. After the season, UBC head coach Isabel Ormond left to McMaster University, her alma mater. This was a significant loss, considering that last year, Ormond led UBC to its best finish at U Sports nationals since 2015, coming in fourth. Replacing her is Dave Taylor, coming to UBC after 19 years coaching the University of Regina Rams. While replacing Ormond will be a tough task, Taylor’s record speaks for itself — he holds the best winning percentage of all active Canada West coaches.
Taylor will have to contend with a massive loss at guard, as Canada West and U Sports Rookie of the Year Keira Daly transferred to McMaster, following her coach back to Daly’s hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. In her stellar first year, she averaged 15.8 points per game — significant production for UBC to replace.
It won’t be easy, as the T-Birds also have an offensive hole to fill due to an injury. Mona Berlitz — the T-Birds’ second-team all-Canadian forward who averaged 16.6 points per game — was ruled out in preseason with an ACL tear.
That being said, UBC has added quite a few promising newcomers — adding some height to their roster. The T-Birds have added more experienced players as well, with two fifth-year forwards Jaeli Ibbetson and Cassie Joli-Coeur transferring from UBCO and McMaster, respectively. In addition to those two veterans, rookie forward Brooke Wagner has had some solid minutes, finding her spot on the team.
Despite the turnover, the Thunderbirds have found success so far. UBC held a 5–1 record before their weekend series against Saskatchewan, only dropping a game 66–53 to the University of Victoria Vikes in early November. However the T-Birds were able to rebound, scoring a commanding 70–51 win against the UBC Okanagan Heat the day after that loss, helping them head into this contest on a high note. Fifth-year guard Olivia Weekes led the way for UBC against the Heat, with a career-high 30-point game.
Finding a similar level of success against their next opponent would be much more difficult. Since the Huskies’ dominant 85–66 win over the Carleton University Ravens at last year’s U Sports national championship — hosted by UBC — their winning ways have continued. Before hosting the Thunderbirds, Saskatchewan held a 6–0 record — tied with four other teams who also had perfect starts to the season to lead the Prairie Division.
But the Huskies weren’t just perfect. They were making it look easy. Heading into this game, he Huskies were coming off a 30-point win over the University of Manitoba Bisons, toppling them 89–59. Dominating wins like that have become normal for Saskatchewan this season, outscoring their opponents by nearly 250 points in only six games, with their largest win being by 61 over the MacEwan University Griffins.
This matchup is UBC’s only out-of-division weekend series, and it is an important one. The competition that the T-Birds face in the Pacific Division is nowhere near the level seen in the Prairie. The top four teams in the Prairie Division are all ranked in the top ten nationally. UBC is the only team ranked that highly in the Pacific.
This weekend series is just a taste of what the T-Birds can expect and need to prepare for in Canada West playoffs as they hope to return to the finals once again. The Huskies, as the defending champions and the current top-ranked team in Canada, are a tough matchup — but the best yardstick to measure the fierce competition that UBC would face if they make it past the regular season. With this, the ‘Birds looked to match up well against Saskatchewan, but unfortunately, they didn’t quite measure up.
The game started out promising for the Thunderbirds, however, as they looked to keep pace with the Huskies. Gage Grassick — the national tournament MVP and U Sports Athlete of the year in 2024-25 — started the game by taking the ball on the perimeter. She made a sharp pass to Logan Reider across the court before Reider drove to the net to get the first points on the board.
Grassick and Reider have been quite the dynamic duo for the Huskies, and they certainly showed that in this game. The duo has averaged approximately 35 points a game between the two of them for Saskatchewan this season, and in this game, they even surpassed that gaudy mark. Against UBC,Grassick had 27 points, while Reider was close behind with 22 — combining for 49 points between them. Them combining to start off Saskatchewan’s offence was a microcosm of what was to come throughout the entire game, with the two accounting for over half of the Huskies’ total score.
But the T-Birds wouldn’t go down easy. UBC quickly responded on the other end of the court, as Weekes drove to the net for a layup of her own. The tie wouldn’t last. With the ball back in Grassick’s hands, she worked to find the best play for her team to score. Grassick started to drive into the paint, but stopped when she saw her lane closed. Instead, she pivoted to find Reider once again, who was open behind the arc. Off Grassick’s pass, Reider quickly let the ball fly for a three-pointer.
The Thunderbirds tried to keep up, realizing that to do so, they’d have to stop the Huskies offence. UBC guard Jade Huynh helped the ‘Birds do just that, making a great play, as with a steal, she quickly got the ball back to the other end for UBC. But they could not score. The T-Birds’ strong defensive play would be meaningless if they could not finish — a problem that would show up repeatedly for the Thunderbirds in this game.
The Huskies had 10 turnovers in the first quarter, and UBC did a good job forcing them, as Huynh did. However, Saskatchewan’s defence was intense, and while the Huskies were prone to coughing up the ball, the ‘Birds could not finish, having only had four points off turnovers in the game. Because of this, the turnovers were not too much of a problem for the Huskies. Despite both teams finishing with similar turnover numbers, it was the Huskies who took advantage, with 22 points off turnovers by the end of the game.
However, while they couldn’t convert off turnovers, UBC stayed resilient. In the first quarter especially, they became sharper on offence in the last few minutes. This started off with Wagner driving to the net and successfully finishing at the rim. Then, after that, Thunderbirds drew a foul for a chance to score and change the pace in their favour, as Weekes tried to put the jumper up in the paint. Weekes made both free throws to get the score to 17–12, starting to claw back after being down 17–8.
The ‘Birds kept rolling. They forced another turnover, with Cerys Merton reading the Huskies ball to intercept a pass. She stole the ball and broke away for the easy layup on the other side of the court, making the game 17–14. With only a few seconds left on the shot clock — and barely any time before the end of the first — Maddy Billings heaved up a shot behind the arc, sinking a crucial three-pointer to tie the game. Despite some stumbles, UBC managed to stick right with Saskatchewan as they were able to finish at the net. They ended the first quarter with a 9–0 scoring run to be tied at 17.
After an encouraging first, hanging right with the number one team in the country, the second quarter was where things started to turn a bit sour for UBC. The first few minutes stayed tied, as both teams went back and forth in a scoreless deadlock. The Thunderbirds briefly took the lead as Joli-Coeur was fouled on a jumper attempt and made both free throws for the first points of the quarter. The Huskies — earning free throws of their own — tied it right back up at 19–19.
The game, however, did not stay that tight. As the quarter went on, Saskatchewan started to pull away with the lead, going on an 8–0 scoring run. Putting an exclamation point on the streak, Grassick — off a pass from Téa DeMong — paused behind the arc, being left with enough space to take the shot and sink the deep three, bringing the score to 25–19.
But just like in the first, UBC clawed their way back. With a layup from fifth-year Sofia Bergman, the T-Birds drew to within four, as she drew the foul and made the basket — but could not complete the three-point play. However, the ‘Birds kept possession, as another fifth-year, Sara Toneguzzi, drove to the net and brought the score to 25–23 with a reverse layup.
Then came the Huskies’ counterpunch. Saskatchewan had no problem getting back the lead in the rest of the second, as UBC had trouble making their shots. They were outscored 19–9 in the second quarter, going 0–6 on their three-pointers. They struggled to get points in the paint facing the Huskies tough defence under the net and had no luck behind the perimeter. As such, they trailed 36–26 at halftime.
The third quarter went better for UBC, as while their performance was up and down this game, they had some strong moments against the country’s number one squad.
Weekes turned up the intensity with a strong start in the third. After UBC opened the scoring, with a tipped ball in the Huskies end, she was open behind the arc. She drained the three-pointer to make it 36–31. Even as Saskatchewan continued to pour on the points, Weeks and the ‘Birds kept fighting. As the Thunderbirds offensive leader, she was double teamed under the net and could not get the basket, but drew the foul. Right after, she earned her sixth point of that quarter with a long jumper, bringing the score to 42–34.
Weekes led the T-Birds in this game with 13 points, but she has also been showing out all season long. Weekes is fifth in Canada West for points per game, averaging 16.6. As one of the fifth-year players she is a strong leader on the team and has been for some time. Last season she was a strong player for UBC — averaging 13 points per game — but especially with the losses of Daly and Berlitz, she has stepped into an even larger offensive role this season.
Weekes’ strong offensive start could not completely keep the Huskies at bay, however, as Saskatchewan only continued to strengthen their lead. Putting a cap on their quarter, Grassick quickly released a three-pointer from deep with a couple minutes left in the frame to bring them to an 18 point lead, their biggest so far in the game.
In the face of that deficit, it was UBC’s Kiarra Kelly who responded to give UBC a strong end to the third after being subbed onto the court. Kelly drained back-to-back three-pointers to reduce the gap to 55–43 in the last few moments of the quarter. When she came on, she immediately switched the energy for the Thunderbirds with her smooth shot. Kelly’s sharpshooting was exactly what UBC needed at that moment, as they had been having trouble from behind the arc.
That momentum was abruptly snapped, as the fourth quarter was the nail in the coffin for the Thunderbirds. Any chance for a UBC comeback quickly disappeared as the Huskies pulled away with the game, outscoring the T-Birds 25–8 in the final quarter.
Despite this, the T-Birds showed some signs of life at some points, with good ball movement to find open lanes, especially at the start of the quarter. Huynh did exactly this to find Weekes right before the shot clock ended to put up a three-pointer. As it bounced out, Katie Hartman was there for the rebound to put it up and bring the score to 57–45.
But UBC continued to trail, as Saskatchewan was quick in transition to get their points. Answering UBC’s score, Grassick made a quick pass over to Reider for a three-pointer. The duo once again caused trouble for the T-Birds, as they were almost impossible to stop.
The Huskies had truly hit their stride by this point, as they hit back-to-back threes to run away with it. While they shot 47.6 per cent from three in the game, they were even better in the fourth, shooting over 50 per cent in the fourth quarter. Their efficiency on offence was a big factor in their dominating lead. As the lead widened, Grassick once again from deep found nothing but net and brought the score to 72–49.
In the final seconds of the game, UBC tried for one more chance, as Kelly was able to get a jumper up. Unfortunately it bounced off the rim and was knocked out of bounds by the Huskies. UBC had possession on the inbound, but with only one second left on the clock, there was no time for a last stand, and they fell to Saskatchewan 80–51.
WIth this win, the Huskies went to 7–0 on the season, continuing their winning streak. The Thunderbirds dropped only their second game of the season — but the blowout score made the loss sting harder. Overall, UBC struggled, not being able to make their shots, going 0–7 on three-pointers in the fourth quarter similarly struggling in the second.
This was in part due to a fierce Huskie defence. Saskatchewan made it difficult for the T-Birds to get to sink shots and finish at the net. The T-Birds shot 20 per cent from three and 32.2 per cent on field goals, as the Huskies’s defence forced UBC to throw up lots of tough shots. With the T-Birds missing their shots, Saskatchewan was able to strengthen the lead through the game, leading to a blowout.
This first loss was a hard way for the Thunderbirds to start their away series against the Huskies. Fortunately, they’d have another chance, turning to prepare to face them again the next day, hopefully for the T-Birds, using the loss as fuel to bounce back.
