Huskies take 50-game win streak into the playoffs

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team capped of their regular season with a perfect record. Keenan Sorokan reports.

A lot has changed in the world since Nov. 2, 2024 -- unless you’re a member of the University of Saskatchewan women’s basketball team.

Back on Nov. 2, 2024, Donald Trump hadn’t been elected as U.S. president, the Canadian postal strike that disrupted mail delivery for months hadn’t begun for nearly another year and Pope Leo XIV was still a cardinal.

It’s also the last time the Huskies lost a game, 65-63, to the Calgary Dinos on the opening weekend of the previous season.

“That’s just crazy to think of,” head coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “Kind of snuck up on us, actually. You know, it’s not something that you really think about as the season is going on.”

The Huskies have won 50 games in a row, which has them in the playoffs this weekend after a historic 20-0 regular season as the defending Canada West champions and U Sports national champions.

While Thomaidis says the winning streak is not something the team has thought about, 15 months without losing has suddenly added up.

“The next you know, over the course of a year and a half or almost two seasons, we’re at 50 games,” she said. “The team is super veteran. We want to win every game we play, so here we are.”

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The last undefeated team to win the Canada West Conference was when the Simon Fraser Red Leafs won in the 2004-05 season. The team is the seventh ever Huskies Athletics team to go undefeated, and the 17th team in Canada West history.

This year’s Huskies boast no shortage of impressive statistics. They won games by an average margin of 31.5 points and enter the playoffs as the top-ranked team in the nation after doing so the entire regular season.

“I don’t think anyone ever gets tired of winning,” fifth-year guard Gage Grassic said. “We have such a great group of young female athletes and a great group of coaches that lead us every day. When it’s more than basketball to us, when it’s a lifestyle, when it’s friends, family you get to surround yourself with –- I think that’s just the secret.”

Thomaidis, already the winningest coach in Canada West history, needs 12 more playoff wins to become the all-time leader in Canadian university women’s basketball. Grassick credits Thomaidis for getting the most out of the team every weekend.

“She just brings such a wealth of knowledge and experience to this team and just a unique perspective,” she said. “I would say she’s been able to reach athletes in a different way maybe some other coaches haven’t been able to.”

Saskatchewan plays the winner of Friday’s play-in game between the Fraser Val­ley Cas­cades and Mount Royal Cou­gars. The quarterfi­nal game tips off Sat­urday at 5 p.m. at the Phys­ical Activ­ity Com­plex.

Chasing back-to-back national championships has a target on the back of the Huskies, and it’s a situation they’re comfortable with.

“Regardless of who our opponent is going to be, we know that we’re going to get every team’s best game, and everybody plays their best basketball against us,” fourth-year player Maya Flindall said. “It definitely holds us to the highest standard.”