JEN WALKER

The Huskie women’s basketball team has been a dominant force all season and on Mar. 12, their extraordinary play within the conference came to a triumphant end, winning the 2015–16 Canada West title.

Friday night played host to the semi-finals, starting with a battle between the University of Regina Cougars and the MacEwan University Griffins, with the Cougars earning their way into the final with a tight 65–59 win. The real excitement of the night started when the hometown Huskies took the floor to battle the University of Alberta Pandas.

Between games, members of the CanWest All-Star teams were presented with certificates. This included two Huskies being honoured, fifth-years Dalyce Emmerson and Laura Dally, both receiving first-team honors.

The atmosphere within the Physical Activity Complex swelled immediately as the home crowd was eager to cheer their team towards a place in the CanWest final. In the beginning of the game, close play between the two teams saw the Huskies down going into the second quarter, 22–18. This led to a back and forth second quarter that saw six lead changes and two ties, with the Huskies winning the battle of the baskets, coming away with a lead that they never relinquished.

Leading the charge was rookie sensation Sabine Dukate, who scored 29 points, going 5–7 from behind the arc. While the lead was never crushing, only extending to 15 at most, the Huskies were in complete control for the second half of the game. Winning the match by a score of 78–68 to clinch their well-deserved spot in the gold medal game.

With the victory, they also booked their ticket to the CIS Championships taking place Mar. 17–19. Dukate recognizes that heading to nationals is a big accomplishment for the team.

“It means a lot. The fifth-years are so happy because it’s the last chance for them. Everyone else has chances again for a few years, but for our senior starting five, it’s their last chance and they want to win everything,” Dukate said. “I just felt the whole team behind my back and they believe I can score, and I believe in myself.”

The gold medal game was an inner province battle, as it pitted the Huskies against Regina. From the tip it was obvious just how hungry both teams were as they were fighting to gain even the slightest advantage throughout the first half, which only saw its biggest lead in the closing seconds of the second quarter when Dukate made a jump shot to give the Huskies 37–31 at the half.

The third quarter saw Saskatchewan pull away from the Cougars with a powerful 24–8 run that nearly solidified their win as they entered the fourth with the largest lead of the night at 61–39. This charge was led by Desarae Hogberg and Laura Dally, who had seven and six points in the quarter, respectively. However, Regina — now playing for their lives — was far from giving up.

Regina came back with a 23–12 run of their own, led by fifth year Katie Polischuk who scored 12 points on her own, nailing four three-pointers in the quarter. This wasn’t enough as the Huskies, fighting until the final minutes, won the gold medal with a thrilling 73–62 victory.

The PAC was deafening for the entire game, as the stands overflowed with crazed Huskie fans on the edge of their seats for every play. The atmosphere was intoxicating but still managed to reach new heights as the final buzzer was completely drowned out by the roaring of fans and screams of the Huskies as the bench flooded the floor to begin celebrating their victory.

Thomaidis was overjoyed as the team got to celebrate an emotional championship win, in front of family and friends.

“It doesn’t get any better than this — in a packed house, playing for a championship on your home court. I’m so proud of them and they’ve earned it. It was a fantastic game,” Thomaidis said.

The magic of the women’s season is set to continue on Mar. 17, as they battle against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the CIS Final Eight in Fredericton, N.B., hoping to earn the ultimate prize: a national championship.