SASKATOON, Sask. - Following one of the most dominant individual season's in conference history, Saskatchewan Women's Basketball standout guard
Gage Grassick has been named the 2024-25 Canada West Female Athlete of the Year. Grassick joins Calgary's Nate Petrone, who was named the conference's Male Athlete of the Year, as the top student-athletes across all sports this season.
The Canada West recognition adds to a season filled with accolades for the veteran guard. Grassick was instrumental in leading the Huskie Women's Basketball team to a Canada West title and the third U SPORTS National Championship in program history. Her individual excellence was recognized at both the conference and national stages, earning Canada West Player of the Year honours before being named the recipient of the Nan Copp Trophy as the nation's Most Outstanding Player.
Grassick and Petrone will move forward as the Canada West nominees for the prestigious Lois and Doug Mitchell U SPORTS Athletes of the Year Awards, which honour the nation's top male and female student-athletes. Grassick will look to join Huskie Men's Volleyball alumni Adam Ens as the only USask student-athletes to be named national athlete of the year. U SPORTS will announce the winners on June 2 at the Annual General Meetings in Collingwood, Ontario.
In what was a season for the ages,
Gage Grassick cemented her legacy as an all-time Huskie legend in 2024-25. The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan product rewrote the program record books while leading the Huskies to both Canada West and U SPORTS glory.
Beginning with a remarkable regular season, Grassick set a program record for single-season assists (120) and in just the third game of the campaign become the first player in program history to record a triple-double with an 18-point, 10-rebound, and 12-assist performance against the Manitoba Bisons. She was also the nation's most efficient and productive three-point shooter, leading the country in both three-point field goals made (58) and three-point shooting percentage (41.4) which helped her to a mark of 18.4 points per game (10th in U SPORTS). Her exceptional 20-game run helped the Dogs to an 18-2 record and the top seed in the conference playoffs.
In the postseason, Grassick managed to take her game to another level, something that has since become a staple of her career in green and white. Averaging 16.7 points through the conference playoffs she exploded in the Canada West Final, dropping 31 points against the UBC Thunderbirds while adding seven assists and two steals to help the Dogs claim their 10th conference title.
As the pressure of the playoffs grew with the U SPORTS Final 8, which the Dogs entered as the No. 1-seed, her game continued to elevate accordingly. Grassick opened the national championship tournament with a 15-point performance in the quarter-finals, but it was her defensive play that turned heads this time. Setting a U SPORTS single-game tournament record, she recorded nine steals to help send the Huskies through to the semis. After doubling down on the Thunderbirds, the Huskies were back in the national final, a stage which Grassick had already impressed on after producing a 30-point performance a season ago in the national final.
In a rematch against the defending champion Carleton Ravens, Grassick solidified Tournament MVP honours with a 35-point outburst that featured a 7-for-15 clinic from beyond the arc. Her performance led the Huskies to their third national title with a commanding 85-66 win, bringing the Bronze Baby back to Saskatoon for the first time since 2019-20.
With the national title secured, Grassick became just the 6th student-athlete in U SPORTS history to capture the Nan Copp Trophy, a U SPORTS Championship, and Final 8 MVP in the same season.
Capping her season with one last accolade, Grassick was named the 2024-25 Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy recipient as the University of Saskatchewan Huskie's Most Outstanding Female Athlete.
Huskies Named Canada West Athlete of the Year
| Name |
Sport |
Year |
| Gage Grassick |
Women's Basketball |
2024-25 |
| Derek Hulak |
Men's Hockey |
2013-14 |
| Sarah Crooks |
Women's Basketball |
2005-06 |
| Kelsie Hendry |
Women's Track & Field |
2004-05 |
| Adam Ens |
Men's Volleyball |
2003-04 |
| Warren Muzika |
Football |
1999-00 |
