WBB: Huskies host T-Birds in CW Final
Saskatchewan hosts UBC for CW banner, Alberta battles UFV in bronze medal game
Article by Brian Swane, special to CW
March 7, 2025 - For months they have been on a collision course, and now they will finally go head-to-head, for the biggest prize, when the Saskatchewan Huskies host the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday, March 8, in the 2025 Canada West women’s basketball championship final.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the University of Saskatchewan’s Physical Activity Complex (PAC) in Saskatoon. Tickets are available for purchase online, and the game will be streamed on CanadaWest.TV - Powered by BioSteel.
This will be the first meeting of 2024-25 between two teams that have been steamrolling through everyone else to get to each other.
Both finished the regular season with matching 18-2 records: UBC atop the Pacific Division standings; Saskatchewan first in the Prairie Division. They’ve each won their two playoff games by comfortable margins, including last week’s semifinals which saw Saskatchewan beat the UFV Cascades 63-45 while UBC defeated the Alberta Pandas 90-66.
The defending champion Huskies are on a 20-game winning streak and haven’t lost at home in more than a year. But UBC has been near unbeatable, with the Thunderbirds’ only two losses this season coming by a combined seven points, with one of them being in overtime.
UBC and Saskatchewan most recently played each other in November 2023, when the Huskies beat the Thunderbirds twice in Saskatoon, by near identical scores of 77-62 and 76-63. A lot has happened between then and now, except for these teams losing. Since their last head-to-head meeting, Saskatchewan is 36-3 while UBC is 33-4 against Canada West competition.
During the 2024-25 regular season, Saskatchewan and UBC ranked first and second in Canada West for both most points scored (83.7 and 79.9, respectively) and fewest points allowed (47.9 for the Huskies, 53.6 for the Thunderbirds). They also were the conference’s top two teams in net efficiency.
There will be no shortage of talent on the court, with both teams each featuring a 2024-25 First Team All-Star and a 2024-25 Second Team All-Star selection. Those elite student-athletes include forward Mona Berlitz (16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds per game) along with guard Olivia Weekes (13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds) of UBC, and Saskatchewan guards Gage Grassick (18.4 points, 5.5 rebounds) and Logan Reider (15.6 points, 3.2 rebounds).
Since UBC most recently captured the Valerie Girsberger Trophy in 2015, Saskatchewan has won six of the last eight Canada West women’s basketball titles. Saskatchewan head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who last month became the Canada West women’s basketball all-time leader in wins, has guided the Huskies to all nine of their conference championships. Thomaidis’ UBC counterpart, Isabel Ormond, is in just her second year as head coach, and has amassed an incredible win percentage of .875 over those two seasons.
Both the Huskies and the Thunderbirds are headed to the 2025 U SPORTS Women’s Final 8, which UBC will host in Vancouver from March 13 to 16. Joining them at the national championship tournament will be the winner of the Canada West bronze medal game, which will see UFV visit Alberta at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
The bronze medal contest will take place Friday at 8 p.m. MST in Edmonton at the Saville Community Sports Centre. Tickets can be purchased online, and the game is being streamed on CanadaWest.TV - Powered by BioSteel.