EDMONTON, Alta. - The Saskatchewan Huskies survived a late comeback attempt by the Alberta Pandas to eke out a 69-67 victory Saturday afternoon at the Saville Centre.
It was yet another thrilling game from the two giants, as the Huskies had just handed the Pandas their first loss of the season the night before. They led for the majority in this one, though Alberta was able to tie the score up with just 10 seconds remaining.
Ella Murphy Wiebe was the star of the game for the Huskies, as she was instrumental in opening up a large Huskie lead, as well as netting the game winner with seven seconds left on a driving layup. She finished with 16 points, one off the team lead which was held by
Gage Grassick, reigning National Player of the Year.
For Alberta, it was an inspired effort for a team that was down by 12 points at one point in the third quarter, but a 21-14 fourth quarter almost captured the comeback win for them. The trio of Mishynn Miller, Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma, and McKinley Penninga were terrific, as the first two tied for the team lead in scoring with 15 points apiece, and the latter was a swiss army knife down the stretch, making key plays that were instrumental to the comeback effort. The Pandas slide to 10-2, and currently are tied for third in the division.
The Pandas found their offence early, and it involved getting into the paint where they scored eight of their first 14 points to take a four-point lead at the midway point in the frame. Mishynn Miller was incredible, scoring a frame-high 10 points which included a six-for-seven mark from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Huskies were also getting great looks on the fastbreak, with Grassick scoring a team-high seven points this way. The Pandas would take an ever slight 21-20 lead into the second.
The second quarter was all Huskies, on the back of
Ella Murphy Wiebe. She scored a frame-high seven points, and was causing tons of problems for the Pandas defence in the post, who were unable to contain her presence or playmaking ability. She added three boards and two assists in a frame where the Huskies had an 11-0 run to open as much as a 12-point lead. However, a late Pandas 7-1 run of their own would allow the hosts to head into the half down just 38-33.
The third quarter saw the Huskies incrementally build their small lead out to a nine-point advantage as three players scored four points apiece. They held the Pandas to just a 27% mark from the field, and the lead would have been larger had Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma not had a five-point sequence near the end of the quarter where she scored a field goal then hit a massive three immediately afterwards to stop a Huskie run.
The final frame saw a charged Pandas team go on a 10-3 run immediately to cut the Huskie lead to just two points. It was led by third-year McKinley Penninga, who had six points in the run to go with four rebounds, and a steal and block along with some genuinely terrific defence. The game would be within a score coming down the wire, until
Maya Flindall hit a huge three to go up six points with 45 seconds remaining. However, the ever-ready Pandas clawed back when Easton-Ihediohamna hit a free throw then came up with a steal on the ensuing inbound and hit a massive three to make it a 67-65 Huskie lead with 24 seconds left. Then, after forcing a five-second violation she hit a driving layup to knot the score at 67 with 10 seconds. But Murphy Wiebe, who was terrific all day, was able to lay in the game winner with seven seconds left to give the Huskies a two point win.
Alberta hosts the Manitoba Bisons next weekend, while the Huskies remain in Wild Rose Country with a matchup in Lethbridge against the Pronghorns.
