G.W. Graham Grizzlies' star senior Deanna Tuchscherer has elected to stay home for her university career and announced that she will play for her father Al as a member of the Fraser Valley Cascades beginning in the fall of 2019. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of UFV Athletics)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

Deanna Tuchscherer: After searching far and wide, GWG’s star senior will play for dad Al and her hometown Fraser Valley Cascades

ABBOTSFORD — Deanna Tuchscherer has always trusted her basketball skills.But it took a summer spent away from home, in the company of some of the nation’s best young talent, for the rising 6-foot-1 senior guard/forward to realize that it was also okay to trust her inner basketball voice.What it kept telling her, and what she […]

Trinity Western head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul enters her ninth season at the helm of Spartans' basketball, and fifth-year forward Tessa Ratzlaff will play her biggest role yet in the fortunes of a program which last season sat on the cusp of national tourney qualification. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of TWU athletics)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Trinity Western women’s basketball: A taste of March Madness gives Spartans a new recipe for success

LANGLEY — The date and the stakes were not lost on anyone within the world of Trinity Western women’s basketball. Yes, for the first time ever, a game in the month of March. And with it, a last-ditch shot to qualify for the U Sport Final 8 championships.

What Sardis' Sophie Klassen lacks in experience she makes up for in grit and athleticism. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
The Capilano University Blues, including (left to right) Zuzia Zdziechowski, Sherrie Errico, Ashley dela Cruz Yip and Carmelle M'Bikata are in Sackville, NB as part of the 2018 CCAA championship field. (Photo by Paul Yates, Vancouver Sports Pictures)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A feather in his Cap! Blues coach Sadaghiani learns lessons from mentors Huband, Palmer to guide Capilano U to CCAA nationals

LANGLEY — Every cloud is supposed to have a silver lining, but if you ask Ramin Sadaghiani about any kind of pre-season forecast, it’s clear that the head coach of North Vancouver’s Capilano Blues women’s basketball team was measuring the 2017-18 campaign by a completely different barometre.All of that was clear earlier this month when the […]

Gonzaga Prep grad Tayler Drynan, still just a sophomore, was among the GNAC's leaders in minutes played this season for the SFU Clan. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
University Women's Basketball

SFU’s young & restless Clan: How adversity became prosperity on the road to playoffs for the GNAC’s resident toddlers

BURNABY — They finished the regular season with just seven players, three of whom were freshmen and two of whom were sophomores. From the opening tip, they knew they weren’t going to be holding a Seniors Night because they didn’t have any.

UBC's Keylyn Filewich is flashing star potential towards the end of her second season with the 'Birds. (Bob Frid/UBC athletics)
Feature University Women's Basketball

This ‘Key’ unlocks the future: UBC’s Keylyn Filewich opens the door and befriends her inner basketball beast

VANCOUVER — Keylyn Filewich emerged from an impromptu one-on-one chat with her head coach one day not too long ago, realizing to a certain extent that she has just discovered her mission statement.

Simon Fraser's Tayla Jackson, over the last decade, has gone from watching in the bleachers to starring on centre court with her hometown Clan. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Women's Basketball

SFU’s Tayla Jackson: On coming home, on coming full circle and understanding the influence of Clan student-athletes

BURNABY — Hang around in the stands at Simon Fraser’s West Gym after a women’s basketball game, and the first thing you’ll notice are the scores of elementary school-aged girls, all lined up with team posters and felt-tipped pens, waiting to collect the autographs of their favourite Clan players.

With a tenacity honed from the physicality of water polo, Taylor Claggett has brought a natural level of abandon to her post in the post with Abbotsford's Fraser Valley Cascades. (Photo courtesy Dan Kinvig/Fraser Valley Cascades athletics)
Feature University Women's Basketball

UFV’s Taylor Claggett: How the Cascades’ high-motor post makes her waves with all-out effort on and off the court

ABBOTSFORD — Survival in the painted areas of the basketball court has often been described as a ‘sink-or-swim’ proposition.

Nicole Vander Helm is enjoying a happy homecoming with the Simon Fraser Clan, having found a place where she can play her total game. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Women's Basketball

From Santa Clara to Simon Fraser: How a true north return helped Nicole Vander Helm re-discover her basketball joy

BURNABY — Nicole Vander Helm admits to have taken a pretty circuitous path in order to re-discover her version of basketball happiness.