Women’s basketball

Huskies 74, Spartans 59

With another convincing win, the Dogs made it eight straight as they used a quality team effort to knock off the Trinity Western Spartans. A solid first quarter saw them outscore TWU 18–6 and that paved the way to the victory.

Saskatchewan’s defence was the difference in the game as they forced 26 Spartans turnovers and turned those into 30 points. The Huskies shot 50 per cent as a team and Riley Humbert sparked the offence with 15 points, as she missed just one shot all night. Dalyce Emmerson was strong as always with 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Huskies 56, Spartans 48

The second meeting of the weekend between these two teams was a defensive affair as both teams shot under 40 per cent in the game. Saskatchewan struggled to maintain consistency in the game on offence as they had immense difficulty hitting their shots in the early going, but managed to hold a 30–21 half-time lead.

Trinity Western managed to make it a game down the stretch, thanks in large part to the Huskies’ 15 turnovers in the second half. It wasn’t their best performance, but it was good enough for the win as it was the ninth straight for the number one team in CanWest. The Huskies finished off a perfect January and now sit with a 13–3 record, atop the Pioneer Division.

Men’s basketball

Huskies 95, Spartans 49 

In the opening match of the weekend, the Dogs continued their hot play hammering the 1–14 Trinity Western University Spartans. Using a big first quarter, the Huskies jumped out to an early lead and they would never look back, closing out the first frame on a 22–4 run.

Shane Osayande was playing in his first minutes of the year after dealing with academic issues. He was solid in his nine minutes of action, recording seven points, three blocks and two rebounds and he provided good energy off the bench.

Trinity Western struggled all night on offence as they shot just 27 per cent and turned the ball over 19 times. Some of those struggles can be attributed to the Huskies’ hard defence as they worked hard all night and limited second chance opportunities.

Huskies 101, Spartans 76

Using some sizzling hot shooting, the Huskies won big over TWU for the second straight night and extended their winning streak to eight games. The Spartans put up a better fight on Jan. 31 but it was the Huskies offence that took over the game, as opposed to their defence the night before.

Five different Huskies scored in double figures, with Dadrian Collins leading the way with 26 points and Ben Baker tallying 22. Collectively, the team shot a remarkable 62 per cent from the floor and were 12–25 from beyond the arc. Saskatchewan’s combination of a highly skilled offence and a tough, hard-working defence makes them a real threat to win the Canada West conference.

The weekend sweep runs the Dogs’ record to 12–4 while the Spartans drop to 1–15 on the campaign. With only four games left in the season, the Huskies find themselves tied for first place in the Pioneer Division with the University of Victoria Vikes.

Women’s volleyball

Spartans 3, Huskies 0

It was a rough outing on Jan. 30 as the Huskies were hammered by the fifth best team in the country. Trinity Western used a big hitting and blocking advantage en route to a (25–19, 25–15, 25–20) straight sets victory.

The Spartans hit at 0.274 compared to Saskatchewan’s 0.077 and that would be the tell-all stat of the game as the Huskies struggled to find traction all night. Emily Humbert had a team-high with eight kills while Sophie Carpentier had 13 kills in the victory for TWU.

Spartans 3, Huskies 0

Jan. 31 was more of the same as the Spartans cruised to a (25–8, 25–19, 25–15) win on home court. A dismal first set was indicative of how the whole season has gone for Saskatchewan as the losses drop their record to 5–17 on the year.

Only six Huskies recorded a kill with Jennelle Sokolski leading the way with five. Jennifer Heuser had a game-high nine digs in the losing effort.

Only two games remain on the schedule with the Huskies hosting Thompson Rivers on Feb. 6 and 7.

Men’s volleyball

Spartans 3, Huskies 1

The third ranked TWU Spartans needed a comeback to knock off the eighth ranked Huskies in match one of their weekend set. Saskatchewan looked good early on, but struggled down the stretch after taking the first set. In the end, the powerful Spartan attack was too much to handle as they won the match (22–25, 25–20, 25–14, 25–19).

Jordan Nowakowski had a team-high with 12 kills while Troy Wiebe had eight digs in the loss. It was a tough loss for the Dogs as the first set looked promising as they hit 0.357 as team. However, the wheels fell off and errors were abundant as they hit 0.079 in sets two through four. The victory was the 10th straight for Trinity Western.

Spartans 3, Huskies 2

Jan. 31 saw the Dogs’ victory stolen right out of their grasp. Up 2–0 in the match, the Huskies collapsed and TWU rattled off three straight sets to snag their 11th win in a row. The loss (23–25, 21–25, 25–17, 25–18, 15–12) drops the Dogs to sixth place with a 12–10 record.

Nowakowski was strong again with 15 kills and seven digs, while fifth-year Paul Thomson had 11 kills and nine digs.

Only one game separates five teams as they battle it out for the final three playoff spots in the Canada West conference.

Women’s hockey

Pandas 4, Huskies 1

In Edmonton on Jan. 30, the Huskies open ed the scoring less than five minutes in on a Lauren Zary powerplay marker against the top team in CanWest. However, the Pandas would reel off four unanswered the rest of the way and hold the Dogs to just 11 shots in the game.

Cassidy Hendricks stopped 21 of 24 shots as the Huskies lost their seventh straight contest. Deanna Morin and Allison Campbell each had a goal and an assist for the Pandas and goaltender Lindsey Post picked up her conference-leading 17th win

Huskies 2, Pandas 1 (OT)

A much better effort was put forth by the Dogs on Jan. 31, as they were rewarded with an overtime victory. Kaitlyn Willoughby opened the scoring late in the second period on a powerplay goal assisted by Kandace Cook. Alberta would tie it in the third, but the duo would hook up again in extra time as Cook buried the winner off an assist from Willoughby.

It was Saskatchewan’s 12th win of the season and Hendricks was a big part of it, stopping 32 of the 33 shots she faced. The team will go on the road to face the University of Lethbridge on Feb. 6 and 7.

Men’s hockey

Golden Bears 2, Huskies 1 (SO)

In a rare Thursday night meeting at Rutherford RInk, it would take a shootout to determine the winner in a rematch of last year’s CIS national championship. Jason Hickmott and Jesse Ross scored in regulation and Ryan Holfeld stopped 48 of the 49 shots he faced.

In the shootout, five rounds were necessary to determine a winner as both goalies stood tall in the minigame. Kruise Reddick would score the eventual winner and spoil Holfeld’s magnificent performance as well as pick up the extra point in the standings for Alberta. Saskatchewan had many chances to win the game, but couldn’t capitalize on their power plays going 0–6 on the night. Kurtis Mucha was solid in net for the Golden Bears stopping 21 of the 22 shots that the Huskies fired his way.

Golden Bears 4, Huskies 2

On Vintage Night at Rutherford Rink, it would be the Golden Bears who completed the sweep as they opened up a 4–0 lead in the third period before gliding to their 24th victory of the season. Sean Aschim and Michael Sofillas scored late for the Huskies and Jordon Cooke stopped 39 of 43 shots he faced.

Alberta is ranked number one in the CIS and clinched the first seed in the Canada West playoffs. Saskatchewan finishes up the regular season with a 10–15–3 record and will be the six seed for the post-season. They will take on Mount Royal University in the first round of playoffs on Feb. 20. The U of S also raised $3,250 for Marty’s Men — a cancer society in support of former Huskie Cody Smuk who was diagnosed with cancer.