VANCOUVER, B.C. - For the 15th time in the past 17 seasons, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Huskies are set to appear in the U SPORTS Final 8. This Thursday (Mar. 13) at War Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of the University of British Columbia, the top-seeded Huskies will face off with a conference rival in the national quarter-finals as they take the court alongside the Alberta Pandas.
HUSKIE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
U SPORTS Final 8 | Quarter-Finals
Saskatchewan Huskies vs Alberta Pandas
Thursday, March 11, 2025 | 8:00 PM CST
War Memorial Gymnasium | Vancouver, B.C.
U SPORTS Final 8 | Semifinals
Saturday March 13, 2025 | 8:00 PM CST
Thunderbird Sports Centre | Vancouver, B.C.
U SPORTS Final 8 | Gold Medal Game
Sunday, March 14, 2025 | 5:00 PM CST
Thunderbird Sports Centre | Vancouver, B.C.
CBCSports.ca (Stream) |
HuskieFAN.ca |
LiveStats
For the fourth time in program history, and the second consecutive season, the Saskatchewan Huskies enter the U SPORTS Final 8 as the No. 1-seed in the national championship tournament.
In the four previous tournaments the Dogs entered ranked as the top team, Saskatchewan has earned a sixth-place finish (2005-06), a silver medal (2023-24), and captured their most recent U SPORTS title in 2019-20.
To open the tournament, the Huskies will take on a familiar foe in the Alberta Pandas in a national quarter-final Thursday night. The Pandas finished the season with an 18-2 record, the same as the Huskies, with their only losses of the campaign coming in Saskatoon back in November. Meanwhile the Dogs have won 21 straight, with they last loss coming in the opening weekend of the regular season.
In what was just the third week of the 2024-24 campaign, Saskatchewan handed Alberta 75-50 and 76-49 losses on their home court in two of the Pandas' worst shooting performances of the season. The Huskies also held Alberta to their two lowest scoring games of th year and the only in which they were held to 50 points or less.
While the two teams have a storied history in the Canada West postseason, they have met just once on the national stage. During the Huskies 2014-15 run to national bronze, they defeated the Pandas 70-63 in the quarter-final round before falling to Windsor in the U SPORTS semifinals.
It should come as little surprise to see the Huskies enter this year's tournament once again ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation. Outside of the Huskies being the highest U SPORTS Top 10 ranked conference winner, Saskatchewan leads the eight participating teams in nearly every major statistical category. The team ranked first in the country in points per game (83.7), points against per game (47.9), assists per game (20.8), steals per game (16.6), three point percentage (34.0), as well as both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Huskies are not just the most efficient team in U SPORTS, they are the most efficient team by a landslide, owning a 0.453 net efficiency. The UBC Thunderbirds rank second in that category with a rating of 0.322, while the Carelton Ravens are third with a rating of 0.269.
A win for the Huskies on Thursday would set up a potential Canada West Championship rematch, with the UBC Thunderbirds taking on the Saint Mary's Huskies in the other quarter-final of the Dogs' side of the bracket.
Opposite the Huskies, the Carelton Ravens face off with the Bishop's Gaiters, while the No. 2-seed Ottawa Gee-Gees take on the Laval Rouge et Or.
2025 U SPORTS Women's Final 8 Seeding
1. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW champions: 18-2 regular season, 3-0 playoffs)
2. Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions: 19-3, 3-0)
3. Carleton Ravens (OUA finalists: 22-0, 2-1)
4. Saint Mary's Huskies (AUS champions: 18-2, 2-0)
5. UBC Thunderbirds (hosts and CW finalists: 18-2, 2-1)
6. Bishop's Gaiters (RSEQ champions: 11-5, 2-0)
7. Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ finalists/at-large: 14-2, 1-1)
8. Alberta Pandas (CW bronze medalists/host berth: 18-2, 2-1)
Team Stats (U SPORTS Rank)
|
#1 SSK |
#2 OTT |
#3 CAR |
#4 SMU |
#5 UBC |
#6 BSH |
#7 LVL |
#8 ALB |
| PPG |
83.7 (1st) |
72.6 (7th) |
75.4 (3rd) |
72.0 (T-10th) |
79.9 (2nd) |
63.8 (27th) |
72.3 (T-8th) |
72.3 (T-8th) |
| PAPG |
47.9 (1st) |
53.2 (4th) |
53.7 (8th) |
58.2 (12th) |
53.6 (T-5th) |
58.9 (14th) |
52.2 (2nd) |
53.6 (T-5th) |
| REB/G |
46.5 (4th) |
39.3 (28th) |
44.9 (6th) |
43.1 (13th) |
43.5 (11th) |
38.9 (29th) |
39.8 (24th) |
43.0 (14th) |
| AST/G |
20.8 (1st) |
16.0 (7th) |
11.7 (38th) |
14.4 (20th) |
14.9 (16th) |
14.5 (19th) |
16.1 (6th) |
17.6 (T-3rd) |
| STL/G |
16.6 (1st) |
14.9 (3rd) |
11.2 (16th) |
9.1 (T-30th) |
16.1 (2nd) |
9.1 (T-30th) |
11.1 (17th) |
14.3 (T-5th) |
| FG% |
43.3 (2nd) |
41.4 (5th) |
41.6 (T-3rd) |
36.7 (T-19th) |
44.0 (1st) |
35.3 (26th) |
39.8 (8th) |
39.8 (T-8th) |
| 3PT% |
34.0 (1st) |
30.0 (T-9th) |
31.0 (5th) |
27.5 (26th) |
29.0 (15th) |
28.2 (20th) |
31.4 (4th) |
31.6 (3rd) |
| OFF EFF |
1.073 (1st) |
0.937 (3rd) |
0.934 (4th) |
0.917 (T-6th) |
0.992 (2nd) |
0.809 (29th) |
0.929 (5th) |
0.892 (11th) |
| DEF EFF |
0.620 (1st) |
0.694 (7th) |
0.665 (3rd) |
0.749 (13th) |
0.669 (5th) |
0.756 (14th) |
0.671 (6th) |
0.659 (2nd) |
| NET EFF |
0.453 (1st) |
0.243 (5th) |
0.269 (3rd) |
0.168 (11th) |
0.322 (2nd) |
0.053 (20th) |
0.257 (4th) |
0.232 (7th) |
