WBB: Semifinal Preview

Article by Brian Swane, special to CW

Feb. 28, 2025 - Seventeen teams battled over three months to earn one of the twelve spots in the 2025 Canada West women’s basketball postseason. After two days of single-elimination games in the play-in and quarterfinal rounds last week, the field is now down to four. And when the sun rises on Sunday, only two teams will be left standing on the road to the championship.

The defending champion Saskatchewan Huskies will host the UFV Cascades, while the Alberta Pandas visit the UBC Thunderbirds in the conference semifinals on Saturday, with the winners punching their tickets to the 2025 Canada West women’s basketball final.

All four teams earned a bye through the play-in round, then took care of business in the quarterfinals on their home courts: UFV defeated the Calgary Dinos 62-59, Alberta beat the Lethbridge Pronghorns 71-46, UBC topped the Regina Cougars 77-55, and Saskatchewan bested the Trinity Western Spartans 83-57. Both semi-final contests are must-watch, and with tip-off times separated by two hours, fans can go right from the end of one game to the start of the next.

Catch all the action on Canada West TV - Presented by BioSteel.

No. 1 Saskatchewan Huskies (18-2 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) vs. No. 4 UFV Cascades (15-5 regular season, 1-0 playoffs)

Saturday, March 1, 7 p.m. CST at University of Saskatchewan Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon, SK

This is a rematch from last year’s semifinal round, which saw the Huskies eliminate UFV with an 84-50 victory on the Cascades’ home court in Abbotsford. That was also the last time these teams crossed paths, as they did not play during the 2024-25 regular season.

Saskatchewan has been the class of Canada West women’s hoops over the last decade, winning seven of the 10 championships in that span, and nothing has changed in 2024-25: after losing their first two games on their schedule, at Calgary, the Huskies have reeled off 19 consecutive victories, and a perfect 10-0 at home in the regular season and playoffs combined.

After going nine years without advancing beyond the quarterfinals, the Cascades are in the conference semifinals for the second straight year and have 12 players on their roster who were part of last season’s team that won Canada West bronze and advanced to the U SPORTS Final 8.

Experience abounds on the veteran Cascades, who are led by fifth-year guard Maddy Gobiel (averages of 16.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists, 2.3 steals in the regular season) and fourth-year forward Julia Tuchscherer (11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists. 1.7 blocks). Saskatchewan enjoys remarkable depth, with nine players who averaged at least 15 minutes per game during the regular season. Huskies guard Gage Grassick ranked second in Canada West with an average of 18.4 points per game.

Defence will be key to UFV’s upset hopes: the Huskies are 19-0 (playoffs and regular season) when they score at least 70 points, 0-2 when they score under 70. The Cascades held opponents to just 54.2 points per game during the season, while the explosive Huskies averaged a conference-high 83.7 points per contest.

No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (18-2 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) vs. No. 3 Alberta Pandas (18-2 regular season, 1-0 playoffs)

Saturday, March 1, 3 p.m. PST at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C.

Student meets teacher as UBC hosts Alberta in a battle of two teams that have a combined zero losses in regulation since December: including last week’s quarterfinals, Alberta has won 17 straight games, while UBC’s only defeat in its last 14 games came in overtime.

Alberta is guided by the 19-year veteran Scott Edwards, the winningest coach in Pandas basketball history and three-time Canada West Coach of the Year recipient. On the opposing bench stands Isabel Ormond, who is in her second year the helm of T-Birds basketball after serving several seasons on Edwards’ staff with the Pandas.

This will be the first regular season or playoff meeting between Edwards and Ormond. The last time UBC and Alberta played each other in Canada West, during December of 2022, Ormond was an assistant coach with the Pandas.

Both teams were among the higher scoring Canada West teams during the regular season, and feature balanced attacks: four Pandas averaged at least 10 points per game, while four T-Birds had a scoring average better than nine points. Third-year UBC forward Mona Berlitz ranked first in Canada West with an average of 28.2 points per 40 minutes. Alberta’s fifth-year forward Claire Signatovich is the reigning Canada West Defensive Player of the Year.

The Pandas, who won their first Canada West title in 2023, are looking to advance through the semifinal round for a third straight year. UBC has not reached the final since 2015, when it last won the conference championship.