CIS: Badgers find success in Saskatchewan, off to West Regional final

SASKATOON (CIS) - The host and No. 2 seed University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the No. 3 seed Brock University Badgers 66-62 on Friday night in the CIS West Regional Semifinal at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon.

With the win the Brock University Badgers advance to the tournament final and will face No. 1 seeded University of Regina Cougars.  The final is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon.

Nicole Rosenkranz, an OUA First Team West Division All-Star, led the Badgers with 18 points and seven rebounds. Two other Badgers tallied double digs with Samantha deJong netting 13 and Emily McKay tallying 10.

Katie Miyazaki led the Huskies scoring a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Canada West rookie sensation Dalyce Emmerson also recorded a double-double scoring 16 points and collecting seven rebounds.

The Badgers used a strong defensive game to come away with the victory on the Huskies home floor.  Late in the fourth quarter with the Huskies trailing by two points the Badgers were able to get a big block on the defensive end and Emily McKay was able to convert the transition bucket.  That sequence would give the Badgers a four point lead at 61-57 and that would be all Brock would need to pull out the win. 

Brock put together a strong defensive game plan limiting the Huskies offense.  Brock forced the Huskies to commit 20 turnovers and they capitalized on their opportunities scoring 15 points off turnovers. 

Badgers head coach Si Khounviseth knew they would have to execute a strong game plan in order to get the win.

“We knew it was going to be a tough team to play here and we knew we needed to execute and I thought we did an excellent job executing our game plan tonight,” said Khounviseth.

Saskatchewan was unable to establish a strong half court offence due to the aggressive Badgers defence.  When the Huskies did have opportunities they failed to take advantage shooting just 38 percent from the floor.

 “Credit Brock - they really brought a lot of pressure that we didn’t handle very well,” said Huskie head coach Lisa Thomaidis. “In the first half, we couldn’t stop the things we talked about stopping and we turned the ball over from their pressure.”

The two teams fought hard in a tightly contested opening 20 minutes.  There were 10 lead changes in the opening half, which saw the teams tied at 28 entering the halftime break.

Out of the halftime break, Brock was able to build a small lead outscoring the Huskies 8-2 in the opening minutes.  The Huskies would not go away and clawed their way back taking the lead 42-41 with under three minutes left in the third quarter. But once the lead change and Brock stormed back outscoring the Huskies 10-5 in the final three minutes of the third quarter to lead 51-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was just as tight as the previous three with the Badgers taking a 59-57 lead into the final two minutes of play.  Brock maintained their stifling defence and made key free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Courtesy: Saskatchewan Sports Information