Huskies repeat as national women’s basketball champions

From the basketball court in Quebec to the hockey rink in Alberta, the track in Manitoba, and the ski slopes of Italy, Huskie teams and alumni had plenty to celebrate. The Huskie women’s basketball team led the way by repeating as national champions – winning their fourth title in the past 11 years – to cap a weekend that included the Huskie men’s hockey team earning its second straight Canada West title, USask athletes shining at the national track and field championships, and USask alumnus Kurt Oatway reaching the medal podium at the Paralympic Winter Games in Italy.

In Quebec City, the Huskies won their second straight Bronze Baby championship trophy with a 77-68 victory over the University of New Brunswick Reds on Sunday.

“Experience and the fact we got some key scores, were the key for us today,” Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis told The Canadian Press. “You have to give credit to UNB, and it took us a while to adjust our defence, but our overall team toughness and resilience managed to get us through.”

USask’s Logan Reider had 19 points and was named the Huskies’ Nike Player of the Game, while USask’s Ella Murphy Wiebe added 13 points and 10 rebounds and earned tournament most valuable player honours. Canada West player of the year Gage Grassick of the Huskies was also named a tournament all-star.

The Huskies, who were the No.1-ranked women’s basketball team in the country for most of the season, went 20-0 in the regular season and lost just one playoff game in conference play, and won three straight games at nationals.

See the full story on the Huskies website here.

On Saturday night in Calgary, the Huskie men’s hockey team won its second straight Canada West championship with a 4-2 victory over the host Mount Royal University Cougars to sweep the best-of-three conference final.

“It’s special,” Huskies head coach Brandin Cote told reporters following the game, after his team completedthree straight series sweeps to clinch the championship. “It’s hard to win and it’s harder to repeat.”

Huskies rookie goaltender Nolan Maier was named most valuable player after giving up just two goals on 63 shots in the two-game series. Dawson Holt, Conner Roulette, Carter Stebbings and Chase Bertholet scored for the Huskies, who now advance to the University Cup national championship from March 19-22 in Halifax.

See the full story here.

USask’s women’s team finished second in the team competition with six medals and 79 points at the national track and field championships Winnipeg. In total, eight Huskies won medals on the final day of competition Saturday, including Olamide Olaloku breaking her own mark in the triple jump to set a new Canadian record. USask’s women’s 4x200m relay team of Hailee Woodhouse, Emma Egert, Selena Keyowski and Grace Igbiki also set a national record to win gold.

More medal coverage is available here.

On Saturday in Cortina, Italy, USask alumnus and Canadian sit-skier Kurt Oatway returned to the Paralympics for the first time in eight years and raced to a time of 1:19.42 to finish third in the men’s downhill.

“I might be 42, but I’m not done yet!” Oatway told the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

Oatway, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree at USask in 2010 and now lives in Calgary, earned gold in the men’s sit-skiing Super-G in the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, before suffering serious injuries (broken collarbone, three broken ribs, two torn ligaments, and a punctured lung) in training just weeks before the 2022 Beijing Games.

‘’This one is special because I’ve been on a long road back from recovery,’’ said Oatway. ‘’To be on the podium at the sport’s biggest stage always feels good.”

Oatway, who is scheduled to compete in the Super-G event today, is one of two USask alumni with Canada’s Paralympic team in Italy, along with physiotherapist Stephanie Peppler, who earned kinesiology (2004) and physiotherapy (2007) degrees at USask. A physiotherapist with Huskie Health and the USask football team, Peppler is working her first Games as the physiotherapist for Canada’s Para snowboarding team.

“As a kid, you have a dream to make it into the pinnacle of sport, which is what the Olympics and Paralympics are,” Peppler told On Campus News prior to heading overseas.

See the full story on USask at the Paralympics and Olympics here.