Box Score KINGSTON, Ont. (April 3, 2022) – For the seventh-time in the last eight seasons, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball team is a top-five team in the nation, after an 80-48 win over the UPEI Panthers in the consolation final at the U SPORTS Final 8 Women's Basketball Championship.

In her final game of U SPORTS eligibility, Summer Masikewich scored a team-high 18 points for the Huskies and was named Saskatchewan's player of the game, while fellow fifth-year Libby Epoch recorded six points, four rebounds and three assists in her last game as a Huskie. The pair ends their career as four-time conference champions and 2020 national champions — and exit as winners after the 32-point victory today.

"Great to go out on a winning note," said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis. "It's important to be able to play at nationals, here on Sunday. It's not the game we wanted to be in, but it's still important to come out and perform at our best.

"It's the last time together, so you want to put a good showing out there and I thought we did today."

Also playing in their final games of eligibility were Erin Kehrig, Claudia Lomba Vianna and Janaya Brown — who all recorded points on the evening, including a triple from Kehrig at the end of the first half.

"I'm just so happy for them to get out on the court and contribute. They're players that put in just as much work as the starters and as the ones who get a ton of playing time," said Thomaidis.

"I'm just so proud of them, because they have worked super hard, sometimes they don't touch the floor. Obviously, they did today and they scored. They're so important to our team, so I'm just really happy that they were able to contribute and get on the court and be part of the win today."

After a bit of a slow start, Saskatchewan went to work in the late stages of the first-quarter. The Huskies closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 10-point lead into the second — a run which they ultimately continued. The Huskies went on a 23-0 run, shutting out the Panthers for 5:52 over the stretch and took a 28-point lead into halftime. UPEI was able to reel it in during the second half, but in the end it was all Saskatchewan, as they finished 50 per cent from both the floor and three-point range, compared to 23.3 per cent from the floor and 16.7 per cent from three-point range for UPEI.

"I'm really proud of our team," said Masikewich after the game. "It showed that we have grit in the face of adversity. We were disappointed that we lost (in the quarterfinals) but we bounced back, we really came together as a team and leaned on each other. I'm really proud of us and our wins."

"Tough game to play in but we were grateful to be playing on Sunday in a meaningful game against a strong opponent," said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis. "We just wanted to get out there and show our best and show how we can play and I thought we did that today."

The win marked the end to yet another championship season for Saskatchewan, after they claimed their fifth Canada West Championship in the last six seasons, with a win over the Winnipeg Wesmen on their home floor.

"It's pretty great. To have a banner — that Canada West banner is going to hang proudly. That's a huge accomplishment for this team this year, for sure. I think, if anything, it highlights how special it is what we did in 2020. How hard it is — it's not easy to win at nationals," said Thomaidis. 

"I think expectations are always so high on this team that anything less than a banner season is a disappointment. That kind of expectation and pressure is a privilege. We've earned it. So really proud of the fact that people expect that of us. We'll have to start thinking about how to do that again next year."

As for going forward, there are lots of bright spots for the program in 2022-23. 

After being named a Canada West second-team all-star, Carly Ahlstrom will be back next season. Joining her are, amongst others, Gage Grassick and Tea DéMong, who showed tons of growth as first-years throughout the season.

"There's lots of exciting things to take away from this weekend from the young ones. The future is bright. I thought there was some great performances by them and for them to to play the minutes that they did and to contribute how they did was really a positive sign for us," said Thomaidis.