SASKATOON, Sask. - Led by another stellar defensive performance, the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies cruised to victory against the Trinity Western Spartans in the Canada West Quarter-Finals Saturday night (Feb. 22) on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court. 

The Spartans, who entered Saturday's contest coming off an impressive 67-62 win over the MRU Cougars in the Play-In round, played a strong first half but ultimately could not keep up with the stout defesive play of the No. 2-ranked team in the nation. 

Leading by 10 at the half, Saskatchewan outscored the visiting Spartans 28-14 in the third quarter before cruising through the fourth with a 20+ point advantage en route to an 83-57 playoff win. 

The Dogs advance to the semifinal round of the Canada West postseason and will see a rematch of the 2023-24 semis this Saturday on their home court when they host the UFV Cascades.

"Next week will be another tough matchup," said fourth-year guard Andrea Dodig (Bolton, ON) who finished the game tied for a team-high 14 points. "We haven't seen UFV this year, and we played them last year in the semifinal, so I can imagine they're looking forward to the rematch as well. They have some veteran players, so they're not going to give up. Being able to stop some of their shooters and bigs is going to be really key." 

"I think the keys [to the win tonight] were just push the pace and get them to play in transition. When we don't have to play in the half court things are going well and we're getting defensive stops."

For much of the first half the Huskies did just that, but some strong play from the Spartans limited early Huskie chances as well. The Dogs were able to seize control of the game midway through the opening quarter when Téa DeMong (St. Albert, AB) converted steal-and-scores on consecutive possessions to give the home team their first lead of the night. 

The second saw the Spartans do their best to keep pace with the Dogs, but a 57% shooting performance would allow Saskatchewan to stretch their lead to 10 at the half. 

Trinity Western's Shemaiah Abatayo and Cassidy Buchanan did their best to keep the Spartans in the game, with Abatayo recording a game-high 20 points and Buchanan adding 13 more, but the Huskies would force six turnovers and allow just five field goals in the third to take a commanding lead with one quarter to play. 

With a sizable lead in the final frame, Saskatchewan locked down the Spartans to secure the win.

On a night when the Huskies struggled from beyond the arc, it was their play in the paint that led them to the playoff win. The Dogs outscored TWU 56-18 under the basket while also turning turnovers into points, something they have excelled at all season, to the tune of 29-14. The transition game also saw a significant USask advantage, with the Dogs' scoring 17 fast break points in the contest.

"It's an interesting challenge coming into a gym and playing against a team today that their dream is to be national champion," said Trinity Western head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "And you could see that separation, the team that's preparing to fight to become a national champion and a team that were very excited to be a playoff team and to win a playoff game."

"There there are a lot of things that are difficult about this kind of game when you're hoping that maybe you can find a way to compete in every single aspect of the game, but the reality is we're really proud of how hard we fought. One of the things I shared with our athletes, even before this game, was learn as much as you can from a team like this. They do so many little things right and that's one of the reasons why we're one of the top teams in the country."

For Saskatchewan, five players finished the game in double figures, with DeMong and Dodig leading the way with 14 each. Dodig would also add a game-high 10 rebounds in the contest, earning a double-double in one of her best performances this season. Courtney Primeau (Saskatoon, SK) with 13, Gage Grassick (Prince Albert, SK) with 12, and Ella Murphy Wiebe (Saskatoon, SK) with 10 would round out the Huskie leading scorers.