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Thunderbirds defeat Huskies 55-50 in U SPORTS Quarterfinal
Posted: Mar 13, 2025

Thunderbirds defeat Huskies 55-50 in U SPORTS Quarterfinal

Photos Results Box Score
Game Leaders
Saint Mary's
Pts: Clara Gascoigne - 15
Reb: Evie Hargraves - 9
Ast: Aki Kobayashi - 3
UBC
Pts: Mona Berlitz - 14
Reb: Olivia Weekes - 15
Ast: 2 Players (#6, #9) - 3
Team Stats
Full stats

VANCOUVER, BC – The #5 seed UBC Thunderbirds defeated the #4 seed Saint Mary's Huskies 55-50 in the third quarterfinal of the 2025 INDOCHINO U SPORTS Women's Final 8 on Thursday night at Thunderbird Arena in Vancouver, BC.

The Huskies started the game well offensively, with guards Aki Kobayashi (Osaka, Japan) and Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS) opening the scoring giving the Huskies an early 4-0 lead.

UBC battled back in front of their home crowd, but back-to-back three-pointers from Huskies first year wing Evie Hargraves (Saint John, NB) opened up a 20-13 Saint Mary's advantage, and the Huskies took a 20-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

But the second quarter was a different story, as the Huskies offence sputtered, shooting just 2/16 from the floor including 0/9 from beyond the arc. The Thunderbirds pressure defence had the Huskies out of sorts, as Saint Mary's committed 10 first half turnovers.

A step-through lay-in by Aki Kobayashi helped the Huskies cut into the lead, but they were outscored 14-5 in the second quarter and the Thunderbirds took a 29-25 advantage into halftime.

U SPORTS Defensive Player Clara Gascoigne came out strong in the third quarter, converting an and-one lay-in to give the Huskies the lead. But UBC responded with strong interior play from forwards Mona Berlitz (Schrobenhausen, Germany) and Jessica Clarke (North Vancouver, BC) each scoring four points in the quarter.

Another Evie Hargraves three-pointer put the Huskies ahead 38-36, but UBC closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 40-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Huskies offence continued to struggle early in the fourth quarter, scoring just two points in the first four minutes, before Clara Gascoigne hit a three to cut the lead to 46-43.

UBC responded with a three from guard Sara Toneguzzi (Oakville, ON), pushing the lead back up to six. After Huskies forward Lucina Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) and Thunderbirds guard Olivia Weekes (Winnipeg, MB) each made a pair of free-throws, Saint Mary's guard Aliyah Fraser (New Glasgow, NS) hit a three to cut the deficit to 51-48 with just under two minutes remaining.

But the Huskies comeback ran out of steam and time, as Mona Berlitz scored a lay-in, and Olivia Weekes hit two late free-throws, giving the hosts a 55-50 victory.

The Thunderbirds held the Huskies to only 28.6 per cent shooting from the field, and held a 47-38 edge on the glass.

Jessica Clarke was named Nike Player of the Game for the Thunderbirds, scoring 13 points on 5/6 from the field. All-Canadian forward Mona Berlitz paced UBC with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Olivia Weekes scored nine of her 12 points from the free-throw line, and added 15 rebounds.

The Huskies were led by First Team All-Canadian Clara Gascoigne, who led all scorers with 15 points and added five steals, earning Nike Player of the Game honours. First year Evie Hargraves came off the bench to chip in nine points and nine rebounds for the Huskies.

With the win, UBC advances to Saturday's national semifinal, where they'll take on the #1 seed Saskatchewan Huskies at 8 p.m. PDT (12 a.m. ADT) at Thunderbird Arena.

Saint Mary's will take on the #8 seed Alberta Pandas in a consolation semifinal on Friday at 5 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. ADT) at War Memorial Gymnasium. Watch live

Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
Photos by Rich Lam / UBC Thunderbirds Athletics