MAX CRANSTON
Sports Writer

Basketball

The Huskies men’s basketball team finished the past weekend with a sweep of visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears at the PAC.

The Huskies emerged victorious 98-73 in the first game of the series on Feb. 4. Alberta opened the scoring but the Huskies quickly set the pace and had extended their lead to 32-17 by the end of the first quarter. The Huskies did not relinquish that lead.

Canada West leading scorer Jamelle Barrett led Saskatchewan with 26 points, followed by Rajean Chabot with 22 points. Duncan Jones chipped in 17 for the Huskies. Forwards Chris Unsworth and Nolan Brudehl also scored double digits on the night with 13 and 12 points each respectively, Unsworth also tallied a game-high eight rebounds for the Huskies.

On Feb. 5, the Huskies defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 88-75. Barrett notched 15 points in each half to score 30 points for Saskatchewan. Brudehl added another 23 for the Huskies and Chabot scored 22 points. Brudehl also had a game-high 13 rebounds. The Huskies had a total of 86 rebounds to the Bears’ 56 through the two game series. The Huskies face provincial rivals University of Regina Cougars in a home-and-home series Feb. 11 and 12.

Guard Kim Tulloch scored 14 points in each half and finished with a career-high 28 points to lead the women’s Huskies basketball side to an 82-70 victory over the visiting U of A Pandas on Feb. 4. Jana Spindler added another 18 points for the Huskies, while Tulloch and Katie Miyazaki led the Huskies with six rebounds apiece.

The following night on Feb. 5, the No. 1-ranked Huskies extended their winning streak to 16 games with a 73-52 victory over the Pandas. Jill Humbert led the Huskies with 26 points on the night including hitting six of eight three point shots. Tulloch added another 17 points for the Huskies and Miyazaki scored 13. Marci Kiselyk and Miyazaki each finished with six rebounds.

The wins move the Huskies to first place in the Canada West with a 18-2 record. The team’s winning streak is the longest in U of S basketball history at 16 games. The Huskies have now locked up a home playoff date in a Canada West quarter-final series. The Huskies face provincial foe the University of Regina Cougars next weekend in a home-and-home series that will decide first place in the conference standings.

Wrestling

The Huskies wrestling team returned with five medals from the University of Western Ontario Open. Landon Squires (90 kg) and Amy Dunn (72 kg) each brought home gold medals from the tournament.  Winning silver medals were Lindsay Olver (48 kg), Kathleen Kent (59 kg) and Daniel Olver (76 kg).

The Huskies host the Canada West Championship Feb. 11 and 12 at the Education Gym before competing at the CIS Championship Feb. 25 to 26 in Thunder Bay, Ontario

Volleyball

The Huskies men’s volleyball team faced off against Alberta Golden Bears in a road game on Feb. 4 at the U of A’s Main Gym in Edmonton. The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to seven games with a straight-sets victory (26-24, 25-20, 25-23) over the Huskies.

Having a challenging year so far, the Huskies drop to 1-14 and prolong their losing streak into double-digit territory with their tenth-straight loss. Matthew Busse, a sophomore right side for Saskatchewan, led the Huskies offence with nine kills; third-year setter Chris Gilbert earned 25 assists.

The Golden Bears swept the Huskies the next night in three sets (25-23, 25-14, 25-22). Outlook native Busse contributed with 11 kills on the evening; third-year setter Gilbert notched 28 assists.

Women’s volleyball had a troublesome weekend against the Alberta Pandas. The No. 7 Pandas had a strong offensive showing, including three players with double-digit kills, in a four-set victory (22-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-10) over the Huskies that assured Alberta a trip to the post-season. The Huskies found themselves in trouble in the final set, converting only six kills along with a meagre 3.3 per cent attack rating.

Hockey

Huskies women’s forward Chelsey Sundby scored the game winner in a 3-2 victory over the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Feb. 4 at Rutherford Rink. The rookie Sundby drained a two-on-one at 17:54 for the win. Kelsey Tulloch sent the puck sailing across to Sundby’s stick in front of the net. UBC goaltender Melinda Choy wasn’t able to get across to make the save.

On Feb. 5, two goals in the third period led the Huskies to a 4-3 victory over the Thunderbirds. Shelby Davey and Julie Paetsch scored in the third to claim the victory for the Huskies. Saskatchewan was down after UBC’s Tamara Pickford was able to give her team the 3-2 lead at 8:45 in that period. Davey scored her second of the game at 12:32 to notch the game at three. Paetsch later gave her team the game-winner with just 39 seconds left.

With the win, the Huskies move to 14-7-1 on the season. The U of A Pandas, who the Huskies needed to lose their remaining three games, defeated the University of Regina Cougars 6-2. The Huskies will now either finish third or fourth in the Canada West. They travel to Edmonton to face the Pandas Feb 11.

The Huskies men’s hockey team won 3-0 over UBC Thunderbirds on the road on Feb. 4. Despite firing 32 shots on net, the T-Birds could not find a way to beat Huskies goalie David Reekie. After a strong 40 minutes, UBC found themselves down 2-0. A comeback bid was put out of reach in the third with a few ill-timed penalties.

Saskatchewan opened the scoring with the T-Birds stuck in their own zone. Forward Steven DaSilva drove the UBC net from the wing and put the puck past goalie Jordan White. That gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Andrew Bailey expaned the lead when he popped home a rebound after some sustained pressure.

On Feb. 5, the injury-plagued UBC Thunderbirds were unable to stop their losing slump, falling 4-1 to the Huskies at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The Huskies took a 2-0 lead that the T-Birds could not overcome, UBC outshot their opponents 42-29, had scoring chances, and kept it close for most of the game. Ryan Holfeld made 41 stops on 42 shots in the win. Kyle ross notched two goals; Jesse Zetariuk and Craig McCallam each added a single tally.