Huskies sweep Cougars in Canada West basketball playoffs

The University of Saskatchewan men’s basketball team made quick work of their provincial rivals, beating the University of Regina Cougars 97-77 Friday at the Physical Activity Complex (PAC) in Saskatoon.

The win made for a 2-0 sweep for the Huskies in the best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal after a 99-68 win Thursday.

Head coach Barry Rawlyk thinks a consistent defensive effort in the game’s final three quarters made all the difference.

“(We were) a little loose defensively in the first quarter, but (we) certainly tightened things up in the second quarter and moving forward into the second half,” Rawlyk said following the game.

Finding their defensive game was a rather simple process for the Huskies bench boss.

“We as coaches like to make the game complicated, but it really isn’t,” he said. “You got to stay in front of the ball and you got to rebound.”

“If you do those two things, you can give yourself a pretty good chance of being successful at the defensive end.”

Cougars head coach Steve Burrows was left scratching his head after his team was seeded lower than the Huskies despite winning three more games in the regular season. Using the rating percentage index (RPI) — a system of scoring that takes opponents’ schedules and results into account — to determine playoff positioning, Canada West seeded the Cougars at five with their 14-6 record versus the Huskies 11-9 record.

“It’s not a great system,” Burrows said after his team was eliminated. “The next part of that is always, ‘Well, what would you do differently?’ And I don’t know the answer to that.”

“I’m not a big fan of this.”

After a quick start led the Cougars after the first quarter, it was the Huskies slowly taking over from that point on thanks in part to a 33.3 per cent shooting percentage from Regina.

Huskies fifth-year guard Lawrence Moore led all scorers with 24 points. Alex Dewar was the next closest scorer with 19 points off the bench.

Regina’s Myles Hamilton led all Cougars scorers with 19 points before he fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“He’s like your teenage son — he drives you crazy sometimes, but other times you have to love him,” Rawlyk said of his top scorer.  “He’s just one of the players. He’s a special talent and sometimes has to have a leash in order to do his thing.”

Women breeze through Winnipeg

Huskies’ Brianna Fehr looks for a pass against the Winnipeg Wesmen.

The women’s basketball team got the night started the right way by dominating the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 102-56 Friday. The win earned the Huskies a 2-0 sweep in its best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal after an 84-75 win over the Wesmen on Thursday.

Sabine Dukate paced all scorers with 21 points. Summer Masikewich chipped in with 18 points.

Both Huskies basketball teams will have to wait until Sunday to see who each team will face in the Canada West semifinals.

The Cougars women’s basketball team is advancing after a sweep of the University of Victoria.

The first game finished with a 71-51 score before Friday’s 81-60 victory. Aleah Ashlee led all scorer Friday with a 20-point effort.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team began the post season with a 5-0 win.

Hockey Huskies blank Mount Royal

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies were on the fortunate side of a new chapter in program history.

The Huskies blanked the Mount Royal Cougars 5-0 in the first ever playoff game at Merlis Belsher Place.

Morgan Willoughby and Kayla Kirwan each had a goal and an assist in the win. Jessica Vance made 18 saves for the shutout, including a diving effort in the third period to preserve her perfect stat sheet.

The Cougars women’s hockey team was blanked 5-0 by the University of British Columbia.

Both teams will continue their series’ Saturday.