The UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team had their season come to an end in the Canada West quarter-finals on Thursday night as they fell 74-60 to the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies at the UFV Athletics Centre.
Battling the second-ranked team in Canada, the Heat gave the Huskies all they could handle in the contest. However, a pair of runs to close the opening two quarters by Saskatchewan, 7-0 in the first and 10-0 in the second, proved to be the difference on the night as the tournament favourites advanced to the conference semifinals.
"They don't give you whole lot of room, and they contest every defensive possession," Heat head coach Bobby Mitchell observed after the loss. "They did a good job disrupting what we like to do, and some of our actions. I thought they sped us up and got us out of rhythm early, but I liked our compete. We stayed with it. But the 10-0 run in the first half, that was the big difference. It was a four-point game, and then you're down 14.
The Heat were led in the game by their three graduating seniors who all put in strong performances in what would be their final game with UBCO.
Fourth-year forward Jaeli Ibbetson of Kelowna, B.C., was a force once again for the Heat, playing over 37 minutes, and finished with another double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds, to go along with four assists.
Fifth-year guard Sofia Ainsa Lluch of Mahon, Spain, also finished in double figures in scoring as she had 14 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Fellow fifth-year guard Rachel Hettinga of Kelowna, B.C., finished the night a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor to post nine points in her final outing with UBCO.
Tea DeMong of St. Albert, Alta., led the way for the Huskies with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Carly Ahlstrom of Calgary, had 14 points and Gage Grassick of Price Albert, Sask., chipped in with 11.
Saskatchewan's defence stood out as the deciding factor in the game as the Huskies forced the Heat into 32 turnovers while limiting UBCO to just 46 field goal attempts. The Huskies were also relentless on the offensive glass, pulling down 23 offensive rebounds compared to just five for the Heat which allowed them to make up for an off-night offensively, as the Heat were able to limit them to just 32 percent from the floor.
UBCO was able to take advantage of the offensive opportunities that they got, shooting an impressive 43 percent from the floor and nearly 39 percent from three-point range. That strong shooting kept UBCO in the contest for much of the night and allowed them to make life uncomfortable for the Huskies.
Despite the loss, the season marks the best for UBCO in program history since joining the Canada West conference back in 2011-12. The team set new program records for most wins in a season and most points in a single game, while also picking up their first-ever playoff victory in Thursday's Play-In round game against the Trinity Western Spartans.
"Only one team wins their last game, so there are a lot of teams that are disappointed," added Mitchell. "But what we did this year, not just last night but over the stretch of the season, it was phenomenal. I'm really proud of the group, and we'll look back and be proud of this season. It's tough right now, but it was a great season."