SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – The Trinity Western Spartans season came to an end with a 83-57 loss to the No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday night at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The win moves the Huskies on to the Canada West semi-finals.
 
The Spartans trailed 42-29 at the half and 70-43 after three quarters.
 
In her final game as a Spartan fourth-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) finished with 20 points, one assist, and two rebounds to lead the Spartans. Third-year guard Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 13 points, and four rebounds, and Sydney Bradshaw with nine points, and two rebounds also had strong games for the Spartans.
 
The Huskies had four players in double-scoring. With Andrea Dodig with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, Tea DeMong with 14 points, and five rebounds, Courtney Primeau with 13 points, and five rebounds, and Gage Grassick with 12 points and three rebounds all hitting double-digits in scoring.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"It's never easy when a season comes to a close. It's always a work in progress. To be able to be a playoff team is something that we dreamt about at the beginning of the season. It's an interesting challenge coming into a gym and playing against a team today that their dream is to be a national champion. And so you could see that separation, a team that's preparing to fight to become a national champion and a team that we're very excited to be a playoff team and to win a playoff game. So, there are a lot of things that are difficult about this kind of game when you're hoping that maybe you can find a way to compete in every single aspect of the game, but the reality is we're really proud of how hard we fought. You're looking at a team of players that have been to the top. ?One of the things that I shared with our athletes, even before this game, learn as much as you can from a team like this. They do so many little things well. And that's one of the reasons why they're one of the top teams in the country. and you can learn, you can grow from that. The outcome isn't necessarily what any coach wants. ?And ending the season on a loss is what everyone except one team is going to do. But I am really proud of the leadership that Shemia demonstrated for us. This whole season, but especially that she finished on a pretty good game today and that all of our younger players can look at not just her as a leader, but also the opponent that they played today and dream about who they could become as a basketball player. ?These are local athletes from Saskatchewan who grew up going to high school playing basketball same as our kids. They just work at a very high level and they compete so hard and the dream would be to become that kind of team at some point."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans matched the Huskies for much of the opening quarter trailing 14-13 with one minute remaining. But the Huskies finished the final 45 seconds with a 5-0 run to take a 19-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Saskatchewan extended their lead to 11 points, 26-15 two minutes into the second quarter. TWU used a 14-8 run to cut the lead down to five points, 34-29, after a bucket by Van der Hoven with 2:14 remaining. But the Huskies again finished strong with an 8-0 run to lead by 13 points, 42-29 at the half. TWU shot 32.4 percent (11-34) from the field, 25 percent (3-12) from the three-point line, and 100 percent (4-4) from the foul line, while Saskatchewan shot 42.5 percent (17-40), 18.2 percent (2-11), and 54.5 percent (6-11) respectively.
 
The Huskies had the better of the Spartans in the third quarter and never let TWU into the game. Saskatchewan extended their lead to 21 points, 59-38, with a 17-9 run over the opening five minutes of the quarter. The Huskies would extend the lead to 27 points, 70-43, and dash any hopes for the Spartans getting back into the contest. The Huskies continued to control the game down the stretch to extend their season with a 26-point win.
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 31.7 percent (20-63) from the field, 23.1 percent (6-26) from the three-point line, and 78.6 percent (11-1) from the foul line. The Huskies shot 45.7 percent (32-70), 23.5 percent (4-17), and 65.2 percent (15-23) respectively.
• The Huskie had a 52-31 edge in rebounding.
• Saskatchewan finished with 12 steals to TWU's seven.
• The Spartans had 19 turnovers, while the Huskies had 18.
• TWU last defeated Saskatchewan, 67-60, on February 23, 2018 in Saskatoon, Sask.
• The Spartans are currently 6-26 lifetime against the Huskies.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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