Top dogs: Huskies women’s basketball team wins national championship

A storybook season for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team ended with a national championship win.

The 10-time Canada West Champions beat Ottawa’s Carleton University 85-66 in the USports National Championship on Sunday.

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It’s the third time in the program’s history that the Huskies have won the national championship, and all of those victories have come under the guidance of head coach Lisa Thomaidis.

THE BRONZE BABY IS COMING BACK TO SASKATOON!!!🏆

The Saskatchewan Huskies are @USPORTSca National Champions!#HuskiePride | #PowerofthePack pic.twitter.com/Z3cMzeZHCk

— USask Huskies Women’s Basketball (@HuskieWBB) March 17, 2025

The Huskies also got some revenge for last year’s national championship loss against Carelton, which saw the Huskies fall 70-67.

From the first tip off to the final buzzer, it was all Huskies.

USports player of the year and Huskies guard Gage Grassick dropped 35 points in the win as she paved the way for the rest of the Huskies players.

Huskies Guard Andrea Dodig dropped 12 points, and forward Téa DeMong finished the game with 13 points.

After dropping the first two games of the year against the University of Calgary Dinos, the Huskies rode a 21-game win streak to the end of the season, capturing a Canada West title and a USports National championship.

The Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team has returned home to Saskatoon for the first time since winning the national championship over Carleton last night! @HuskieWBB @CKOMNews @GreenZoneSK pic.twitter.com/3LFwUUZ3Wh

— Shane (@ShaneC06) March 17, 2025

Thomaidis has now led the Huskies to all three national championship titles.

The Saskatchewan squad dominated the final-eight tournament, winning nearly every game by double digits.

Thomaidis said a lot of things clicked for the team this weekend in Vancouver.

“Our quarterfinal was probably the toughest game going in and then I just thought after that day we just were rolling. Our team, I thought, was just super focused – played their best basketball when it meant the most,” she said.

“Gage was incredible. She showed why she’s the best player in the country right now, and it’s not even close. We had lots of contributions from many different players, and that really was the difference maker.”

Thomaidis said she was surprised with how well her team played, especially since the Huskies were battling some injuries in the starting five.

“I have to be honest, Carlton looked real good on film and obviously had a they had a tremendous season as well. We learned lots of lessons from playing against them last year in the final and thought we really took those lessons and made some improvements and were very well prepared for this,” Thomaidis said.

“So many things factor in to be able to win a national championship. We actually had a couple injuries after Thursday’s game. We weren’t too sure if two starters were going to be able to play the rest of the tournament,” Thomaidis added. “Just such a tough, resilient group – very tight knit and super composed in the biggest moments.”

Thomaidis said this most recent national championship win is up there with the biggest victories of her career.

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Shane Clausing