The Saskatchewan Huskies put on a shooting clinic against both UNBC Timberwolves varsity basketball teams at the Northern Sports Centre on Saturday.
On the women’s side, the Huskies were dominant from start to finish cruising to an 87-53 victory of the T-Wolves.
Saskatchewan were up by as much as 37 points at one point and finished the game 13 for 21 from beyond the arch.
Megan Lindquist led the way offensively for the Huskies with 19 points including a 6 for 7 showing on field goals along with a 5 for 6 performance from three-point range.
Lindquist says their ball movement was the big difference. “We were sharing the ball real well and putting our teammates in good positions so that really helped and everyone was contributing.”
Saskatchewan completes the regular season 15-5 with 10 players in either their first or second year of eligibility.
This years formula has been a very successful one according to Lindquist. “I have to give full credit to all of my teammates with all the amount of time and effort our young ones have put in to just buy into our program and I’m so proud of everyone because we have made huge strides this year.”
The game also marked the final time fifth year Timberwolves Preety Nijjar and Stacey Graham suited up in a regular season game at the NSC.
Head Coach Sergey Shchepotkin was quick to credit to Huskies strong play over the weekend. “That’s a national champion we faced and they’re really good so actually what we did on Friday losing 72-65 is kind of successful and today we couldn’t make a three-point shot and they were not missing those shots especially after hitting at 83% in the third quarter.”
(NOTE: The Timberwolves completed the season with a 6-14 record but made the playoffs after Lethbridge lost 67-47 Sunday to Alberta)
Shchepotkin says it’s not an ideal spot, but still a good opportunity. “I don’t like that we need to wait and see how Lethbridge plays but on the other hand I think it is very big progress for our team that we are so competitive, we played with the best in the country in a lot of tight games so it’s a matter of time.”
On the men’s side, Saskatchewan once again outlasted the Timberwolves by a 77-57 margin.
UNBC said goodbye to three fifth players including Elliott Rowe, Sam Zhang, and Rhys Elliott.
Zhang led the T-Wolves in points with 18 and was 4 for 7 from three point range.
Zhang says he changed up his decision process at the half. “To be honest, I just stopped thinking about it and just started shooting it, letting it come to me and was relaxed by enjoying the moment by taking what the defence gave me.”
The completion of his CIS playing days still hasn’t hit him yet. “It’s still kind of surreal, It probably won’t hit me until next pre-season when all the boys including Rhys and Elliott are just hanging out. I’m going to stay in PG since I love the community and see if I can build something,” says Zhang.
UNBC finishes with a 4-16 record and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
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