The Bisons women’s basketball team faced the Saskatchewan Huskies at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Thursday, Nov. 6 and Friday, Nov. 7. They lost the first game 100-63 and the second 89-59.
In game one, the Huskies controlled the game from start to finish, with Téa DeMong and Gage Grassick both scoring 24 points, overpowering the herd’s defence.
In the first quarter, the herd opened the scoring with Ayva Khan, but the Huskies quickly responded and soon the Bisons were trailing behind 8-2. The Huskies came out firing on both ends and within the first five minutes they were 15-4, using a balanced attack and stifling defence to seize early control.
The herd struggled to find momentum, losing the ball at multiple instances which led to transition chances for the Huskies. By the end of the first quarter, the Huskies led comfortably 32-14, setting up the tone.
The Huskies carried this momentum into the second quarter. In this quarter, the herd found some rhythm behind Khan with three points and Taylor Schepp with five points. Each found ways through the Huskies defence to get points, but both teams were evenly matched as they scored 16 points each. At the end, the Huskies led the game by 48-30.
After halftime, the Huskies showed up with no signs of slowing down as they scored 27 points in the third quarter alone. After three quarters, the Huskies led comfortably 75–46. In the fourth quarter, even with the game in hand, the Huskies maintained their offensive intensity by scoring 25 points while the herd was able to score 17. The Huskies sealed a dominant win at 100-63.
Standout players for the Bisons were Khan and Schepp. Khan scored 12 points, while Schepp contributed 10. In this game when the Huskies went on the attack, they found gaps in the Bisons’ defence which allowed them to make crisp passes, letting the forward try to put it up for a layup or attempt a close-range shot. However, when the Bisons went on offence, the Huskies set up a shaped zone defence around the three-point line. The Bisons moved the ball around, but the herd had difficulty breaking through the Huskies defence.
Bisons women’s basketball coach Michele Sung reflected on game one. “There were some stretches in each quarter that we did a really good job competing, and then took our foot off the gas a little bit. Just getting out-rebounded by so much makes it really tough to keep pace, scoring-wise.”
On the team’s offence, she added, “I think our offensive output was actually okay. I think we were hoping to do a little bit [of a better] job giving them some defensive resistance. We shot the ball fairly well. I just thought we didn’t take enough shots, and then we gave [the Huskies] too many.” Sung expressed, “I think we just have to execute a little better on rebounding.”
On Friday, the herd faced the Huskies again for game two. The herd was able to get the lead at the end of the first quarter by a point 16-15. After that, the Huskies took control, outscoring the herd 33–16 in the second quarter, 21–20 in the third and 20–7 in the fourth. In the end, the Huskies’ offensive intensity proved too much with Logan Reider putting up 26 points, contributing to securing a convincing 89–59 victory.
The Bisons women’s basketball team will face the Calgary Dinos on Friday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. CT and Saturday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. CT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
