KADE GATES

A devastating one-point loss to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds kept the Huskies from earning their fourth Canada West conference championship.

This weekend the women’s basketball team looks to win their first ever CIS national championship. Standing in their way is four-time defending national champion University of Windsor Lancers as well as their first round opponent the University of Alberta Pandas. The Huskies will begin their drive for a title on March 12.

The Huskies have a tough first round matchup as they are 0–2 on the year against the Pandas. If the Dogs are to make noise this weekend they will live and die by how two-time CanWest Player of the Year Dalyce Emmerson performs.

In their three losses this year, Emmerson has averaged 10 points per game and in their 17 wins she averaged nearly 14 points each game. Added to that, in losses she averages 0.6 blocks a game, but in wins the number is 1.6 per game. If Emmerson can protect the rim without fouling and can get her shots to fall, then the Huskies are going to be tough for any team in the Final 8.

Kelsey Trulsrud has had a huge coming out party in playoffs this year. The 5’9” fourth-year guard has played much bigger than her size as she has been averaging nearly a double double in rebounds and points during the post-season.

The Huskies could also use a big weekend from their three-point machine Laura Dally. The Western University transfer has hit the ground running her first year in the CanWest as she led the conference in three-point field goal percentage shooting the rock an incredible 47.2 per cent from long range. Dally can also get to the rim and convert as she put up 18 points against the Vikes in March 6 CanWest semifinal while going only 1–5 from behind the arc.

The experience of the Huskies’ backcourt will also play a major role in how the Huskies do this weekend. Kabree Howard and Riley Humbert will be playing out their final games of their university careers this weekend. Humbert ranks fourth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio meaning that the Huskie guard has done a great job of taking care of the ball while still successfully running the offence. Additionally, Howard is second in assist to turnover ratio which explains why the Huskies are top five in turnovers per game.

To beat the Pandas, the Huskies are going to have to shut down the number one offence in CanWest led by 6’1” guard Saskia van Ginhoven and Jessilyn Fairbanks.

Van Ginhoven is the engine that drives the Panda offence as she is their leading scorer at 16.7 points each game while still shooting a strong 58 per cent from the field. There is no way to stop van Ginhoven, but the Huskies’ best hope is to contain what she can do, as they did on the opening weekend of the year when they held her to just nine points.

Unfortunately, even if you stop van Ginhoven, you also have to deal with Fairbanks — the number two option for this high powered offence. Fairbanks ate up the Huskie defence in their early season matchup as she dropped 22 and 17 points on them on back-to-back nights. Fairbanks is a solid three-point shooter — ranked seventh in the conference — and nearly automatic from the free throw line, at 83 per cent. The Huskies’ guards will need to keep her out of the paint and off the charity stripe if they hope to contain her.

A win for the Huskies on March 12 night would most likely set up a matchup against the top seeded Lancers. The Lancers are 19–1 this year and are led by Korissa Williams who averages 19.3 points per game.

Saskatchewan will do battle with Alberta on March 12 with tipoff set for 8 p.m. EST. A live broadcast of the game can be seen on www.CIS-SIC.tv as the Huskies look to advance to national semifinals.