Saskatoon StarPhoenix Staff
As disappointing as a conference playoff loss last month was for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team, the setback could serve as a “wake-up call” in their pursuit of program history, their head coach says.
Here are five things to know as the Huskies take aim this weekend at the program’s fourth U Sports national title.
Huskies seeded fifth
After finishing the regular season ranked No. 1 in the country, the Huskies were given the tournament’s lone wild card for U Sports nationals in Quebec City as the No. 5 seed. They open against fourth-seeded Canada West rival University of British Columbia (Thursday, 5 p.m.).
The winner of the Huskies-Thunderbirds faces the winner of No. 1 Toronto Metropolian and No. 8-ranked host squad Laval (7 p.m.). On the other side of the draw, No. 2-ranked University of New Brunswick faces No. 7 Carleton (11:30 a.m.) and No. 3 University of Calgary takes on No. 6 McGill (1:30 p.m.).
Semfinals take place Saturday (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.), followed by the championship contest on Sunday (4 p.m.).
The Huskies played UBC twice in Canada West conference play this season, winning 80-51 and 93-70 in October.
Of the other teams in the draw, the Huskies beat Toronto Metropolitan 90-74 at a tournament in October, and swept Calgary in conference play by scores of 63-44 and 77-46 in January.
The Huskies and Carleton have faced off in the last two national finals, with Carleton winning in 2024 and the Huskies gaining revenge in 2025.
Looking to rebound
The Huskies have not only been chasing back-to-back national titles, but they had been aiming for a perfect record.
The dream of perfection, along with a 51-game winning streak over two seasons, ended two weeks ago with a 61-58 loss at home to Calgary in the Canada West semifinal.
“I think that was a bit of a shock,” head coach Lisa Thomaidis said last week, noting the loss to Calgary “just redirected our focus to how hard you have to play to win at this level and how difficult it is.”
A strong belief
Thomaidis and her team strongly felt that even with the loss to Calgary, their resume was strong enough to earn the lone wild card to nationals.
The Huskies were ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season, receiving 46 out of 46 first-place votes in the final poll of the regular season. The team’s ELO rating — which quantifies team strength based on results, points per possession, defensive efficiency and more — was tops in U Sports.
As well, the team went 20-0 in a difficult Canada West conference. (The U of S, UBC, Calgary, Regina and Alberta were consistently ranked in the top-10 nationally).
The Canada West and Ontario conferences each sent their two finalists to nationals, the Quebec and Atlantic conferences each sent their winner, and the host squad received an automatic berth.
“This is probably one of the few years, if not the only year, that I’ve been coaching where it is pretty cut and dried,” Thomaidis said about what she felt was a clear case of the Huskies deserving the wild card.
Chasing history
With national championship banners from 2016, 2020 and 2025 hanging in their gym, the Huskies are tied for fourth place all-time with Manitoba, Carleton and Winnipeg.
Victoria has claimed nine national titles, Laurentian has won seven, UBC has six titles, while Simon Fraser and Windsor each have five.
Under Thomaidis, the Huskies have won 10 Canada West championships. Since she joined the Huskies as head coach in 1998, no Canada West women’s basketball team has won more games.
One thing the Dogs haven’t done, though, is repeat as national champions. Should they pull off the feat this weekend, it would put them in the company of Carleton (2023-2024), Windsor (2011-2015), Simon Fraser (2009-2010), Manitoba (1996-1997), Winnipeg (1993-1995), Laurentian (1990-1991), Bishop’s (1983-1984), Laurentian (1975-1979) and UBC (1972-1974).
A winning spirit
Thomaidis and the Huskies didn’t like the feeling of waiting on that wild card to confirm they would be headed back to nationals.
“This group is used to winning and bringing home banners, and to know that we weren’t going to be advancing to play for a Canada West championship was very disappointing,” she said.
“They’re highly motivated to make sure we don’t make the same mistake twice.”
— With files from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix’s Aidan Jaager
