SASKATOON, SK – With one of the best defences in Canada West, the #8 University of British Columbia Thunderbirds were set to take on the #1 University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canada West Quarter Final on Saturday at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon. 
 
The Thunderbirds' defence would be overwhelmed by a strong Huskies offence, as Saskatchewan went on to win the game 81 to 46.
 
"That was a great team win for us at home, and it was great to get some of our young players to get a playoff win under our belt. It was nice to get everyone out and contributing," said Huskies Head Coach Lisa Thomaidis. 
 
Saskatchewan would go with Logan Reider, Carly Ahlstrom, Tea Demong, Gage Grassick and Kyla Shand as their starting five. UBC would start with Azalya Forstbauer, Katie Hartman, Sofia Bergman, Sara Toneguzzi and Emily Martindale. 
 
The first half saw the Huskies offence dominate the court, outscoring the Thunderbirds 18 to 8 in the first quarter. While UBC's defense was stellar in the first half, their offence struggled to gain momentum. Saskatchewan would hustle to a nineteen-point lead at the half, going into the break up 43-24.
 
Carly Alstrom led the Huskies at the half with 16 points. The fourth-year guard added five rebounds went 4 for 4 from the free throw line. For the Thunderbirds, Mona Berlitz, Hailey Counsell, and Sara Toneguzzi all had six points. 
 
"We had a slow start, which didn't help. I think you can only play tough defence for so long. Full credit to Saskatchewan, they execute their stuff so well," said UBC Head Coach Erin McAlennan. "This is one of the highest points we've given up so far this season. I think the tough part for us was not scoring points. We weren't rebounding as well as we normally do. We missed some layups and some easy ones. It's hard to keep playing really tough defense when you're not scoring."

The Huskies offence would continue to impress in the second half, pushing the Thunderbirds defence to their limit and ending the third quarter with a 33-point lead. They continued to shine through the rest of the game and Saskatchewan would take the win in the Canada West Quarter Final.
 
Carly Ahlstrom would lead in scoring, with 24 points on the evening, adding eight rebounds, two steals.
 
"We're a super young team so I'm really pleased with our season. Finishing in the top eight in Canada West, we have a really bright future. Looking forward to being able to host nationals in two years with everyone on this team being eligible to come back. We're really proud of our defence being one of the top in Canada West," said McAlennan. 
 
The Canada West Semi-Final is set for Saturday, February 25 at 4:00 CST against the University of Alberta Pandas. Game can be streamed live on CanadaWest.TV and tickets are available at HuskieTickets.com.