Recap The Court

Photo: Don Volkander/Alberta Athletics

Jacob Smith

There’s a overused saying, big time players make big time plays in big time games. That phrase couldn’t be more true after day one of the U SPORTS Women’s Basketball Final 8. In every game, the stars came out to play and pushed their side over the edge, and you saw the best being the best.

The first game which saw the Carleton Ravens coming out victorious 75-58 over the UFV Cascades was another reminder of why Kali Pocrnic is an All-Canadian, and why the Ravens are the defending champs. From the opening whistle, Carleton outpaced the Cascades and the drive, gather and kick out of the guards that starts most of the Ravens offence drew so much attention from UFV that it opened up the rest of the floor for shooters on the perimeter or secondary drives causing movement and confusion for UFV defensively, and a fluid offensive performance from the Ravens. Kali Pocrnic scored 25 points including five three-pointers to lead the team and her ability to get to spots and see the floor opened up the Ravens play the entire game.

Moving into the second game featuring the Queen’s Gaels defeating the SMU Huskies 69-54, this was nothing short of the Julia Chadwick show. The First Team All-Canadian and OUA Defensive Player of the Year had what you could maybe consider a quiet 25 point and 27 rebound performance, dominating the paint for a majority of the game including a double-digit rebound third quarter to help Queen’s push away from the Huskies. 16 points from their starting point guard Emma Weltz added to a great game facilitating the Gaels offence, and on the defensive end Julia let nothing get to the rim easily out rebounding groups of two or three often.

The Huskies 85-54 win over the Calgary Dinos to me was Saskatchewan maintaining their form from the games prior to the tournament, and Gage Grassick doing what Gage Grassick does. Gage is an incredibly underrated guard in U SPORTS, her passing mixed with the physicality she can play with makes her a tough guard to stop and her knowledge of how to set up plays and players makes her a great guard to run the Huskies. Saskatchewan didn’t have much trouble with Calgary, pushing out to a 41-16 lead at halftime and cruising through the second half, they created turnovers as a team and played the style of basketball you’d expect from the Huskies.

The day finished with what I believe is the best game of the day, and it’s RSEQ Player of the Year and U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian Lea-Sophie Verret leading the Laval Rouge et Or to a 65-57 victory over the home squad Alberta Pandas. Despite the seven rebounds and three blocks from U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year Claire Signatovich, the Pandas were constantly fighting to keep pace with the shiftiness and shooting of Verret and Frederique Beaudry-Blais powering the Rouge et Or, and hustle on the boards denied Pandas’ second chances late to keep the Rouge et Or in front. Verret is one of the most explosive guards in U SPORTS and her hustle to get to the rim and draw fouls helped Laval get the win over the host and move on to the semifinals.