Ravens aiming for three-peat against Huskies in U Sports basketball final

VANCOUVER – The Carleton Ravens can win a third consecutive national title on Sunday when they face the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies in the U Sports women’s basketball Final 8 championship game at UBC’s War Memorial Gymnasium in Vancouver.

The Ravens punched their ticket to the final with a 84-60 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Saturday night’s semifinals, while the Huskies dunked the host UBC Thunderbirds 85-63 in the other semifinal.

Andrea Dodig scored 19 points and hauled in three rebounds as the Huskies dunked the Thunderbirds in the first semifinal game of the night.

Ella Murphy Wiebe chipped in with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Gage Grassick had 12 points and five rebounds for the Huskies, who led 49-27 at halftime over the tournament hosts.

Mona Berlitz lead the Thunderbirds with 15 points and four rebounds, while Sara Toneguzzi had 11 points and Sofia Berman added nine and five rebounds.

Saskatchewan dominated in field goals, making 51.6 per cent of their shots, while UBC finished at 35 per cent. The hosts had 22 turnovers and were outrebounded 44 — 30. Saskatchewan’s bench outscored UBC 29-21.

In the late game, Teresa Donato led the Ravens with 17 points, while Tatyanna Burke had 16 and nine rebounds. Natsuki Szczokin led the Gee-Gees with 12 points, while Bailey Russell added 11.

The Ravens led 46-19 at halftime, but the Gee-Gees outscored them 26-13 in the third quarter.

Carleton had a slight edge in field goal percentage (45.6 to 43.4), but owned the boards with 44 rebounds. The Gee-Gees had more turnovers (24-19) and were outscored on the bench 36-26.

The Thunderbirds play the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Sunday’s bronze-medal game.

ALBERTA 64 LAVAL 38

(Fifth-place women’s game)

Forward Claire Signatovich scored 16 points and pulled in 15 rebounds as the Alberta Pandas dunked Laval Rouge et Or 64-38 in the women’s fifth-place game on Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium.

Annacy Palmer pitched in with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Pandas, who led 31-17 at halftime.

The Pandas shot 44.2 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from three-point range, while their defence held the Rouge at Or to just 19.2 per cent shooting overall.

Sabrine Khelifi led Laval with eight points and 11 rebounds. Julia Denis had seven points and five rebounds. The Rouge at Or shot 3.1 per cent from three-point range and turned the ball over 20 times.

CONCORDIA 87 UBC 80

(Fifth-place men’s game)

The No. 8-seeded Concordia Stingers upset the fourth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds 87-80 in Saturday’s fifth-place game in the U Sports men’s Final 8 tournament.

Alec Phaneuf finished with a game-high 31 points for the Stingers, including seven three-pointers, while Jaheem Joseph added 19 points and four three-pointers.

The Thunderbirds, despite a strong effort, struggled to keep pace with Concordia’s sharpshooting. UBC’s Gus Goerzen led the team with 17 points, including five three-pointers, and Brendan Sullivan contributed 18 points.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2025.