For a packed audience, the Huskies women’s basketball team kept everyone on the edge of their seat by staying ahead with a narrow margin almost the entire game.

As the minutes dwindled down, it looked uncertain at times. Yet the Huskies cap­tured the Canada West title, their fourth in the past five years, against the University of Alberta Pandas, winning 62-51.

The Huskies had expected to go on the road to face the number-one ranked team in the CW league, the Calgary Dinos, in the champion­ship game. However, an up­set against the Pandas in the semi-finals led to them falling out of the playoffs.

With the Huskies ranked second, they played the Pan­das on their home turf in the Physical Activity Complex, which was a welcomed sur­prise. But with the change in playoff format, scrapping the best of three in the quarter and semifinals, the Huskies had it all riding on one high- pressure game.

In the first period, the teams tied twice, and the Pandas barely squeaked a lead over the Huskies six minutes in. However, the Huskies worked hard on defense in the second, allowing the Pandas to only make five points.

“They had a tough night shooting in the first half,” said Lisa Thomaidis, head coach of the Huskies women’s basket­ball team. “We knew they were going to make a run in the sec­ond, but we hung in strong.”

In their playoff games this year, the Huskies have strug­gled with maintaining their lead, often dropping it in the third to rally hard in the end.

It was no different in the championship game. After a tough third that had the Pan­das edging closer, the Huskies were quick on their turnovers. It was fourth-year Summer Masikewich who had the au­dience on their feet. With just over two minutes left on the clock, her three-pointer shot in the fourth launched the Huskies forward.

The key players were Ma­sikewich and fifth-year Sabine Dukate, who both earned 17 points. Dukate attempted six three-pointers and landed two, and from second-year Carly Ahlstrom came 10 re­bounds.

The women’s team is in Ottawa for the U SPORTS Championship over the week­end, which is the second time in program history that the team is heading into the final eight ranked number one in the nation.

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Nykole King/ Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Yasmine El-Gayed