Everything finally came together at the end of the season for the UFV Cascades women’s basketball team.
With their playoff hopes on the line, the Cascades rolled out six consecutive wins to snag the final playoff spot in Canada West’s Explorer division.
Just over a month ago, the Cascades were coming off a sweep at home at the hands of the MacEwan Griffins. UFV then had a bye week, before the big season-saving streak. Cascades forward and W.J. Mouat grad Katie Brink said the team clutched up when they had to.
“We went into that weekend against MacEwan thinking we would get at least a split but after we got swept, it sucked,” she said. “We had to focus and work on everything, and it was that mindset that helped us get those late-season wins.”
Included in that run was a pair of victories against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack, the top team in the Explorer. Brink said they were completely prepared for TRU, and those wins helped the team’s confidence grow.
“We always seem to have struggles against TRU,” she said, noting they were swept by the Wolfpack earlier in the season. “But we knew everything they were going to do before they did it. We got so much confidence from those wins, and I think it proved that if we stick to our game plan we can be unstoppable.”
It’s been a year of change for the women’s program, with veterans Kayli Sartori and Shayna Cameron joining the team, and rookies like Taylor Claggett playing a significant role. Sartori earned the Canada West scoring title in her return to the court after a year off, and Brink said the chemistry has finally developed in the last month.
“We thought it was going to be a bit of a rebuilding year because we had a whole new team,” she said. “But having Kayli back with us is huge, and adding someone super-skilled like Shayna has been a nice addition. Everything has been clicking, which is really exciting for us.”
The Cascades host the UBC Thunderbirds in round one of the Canada West playoffs, and there are many similarities with the two teams. Both clubs are riding hot streaks into the postseason, with UBC winning three straight to clinch a playoff spot. They also match up very closely in points per game (UFV – 67.9, UBC – 67.2), shooting percentage (UBC – 39.6, UFV -39.5) and three-point shooting (UFV – 31.9, UBC – 31.4).
The difference could be home court. The Cascades had seven wins and three losses during the regular season, and all the games in this series will take place at the Envision Athletic Centre.
“Having home court is huge for us,” Brink said. “They haven’t played here in over a year, and we’re in front of our fans and just have more comfort here.”
The best-of-three series kicks off tonight (Friday) at 6 p.m., and game two occurs on Saturday at 6 p.m. Game three, if necessary, goes Sunday at 5 p.m.
The winner of the series goes on to face the top-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
