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.

The most important road trip the UBC Thunderbirds have taken this season was to Cuba over the winter break. (Photo courtesy UBC women's basketball)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Havana hoops holiday helps harvest ‘eureka’ moments, Huband’s UBC Thunderbirds grow together in time to make late-season surge

VANCOUVER — Listen to Deb Huband talk about the ever-evolving state of the youngest team she has ever coached in her 23 seasons at the helm of the UBC Thunderbirds women’s basketball program, and one phrase — ‘eureka moments’ — stands out above all the others.

Simon Fraser women's basketball brings three explosive guards to the fore as part of its 2018 recruiting class in (left to right) Sienna Lenz, Emma Kramer and Georgia Swant. (Varsity Letters photos by Howard Tsumura)
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The power of three! How SFU’s 2018 recruits Lenz, Swant & Kramer will flip the script and re-fortify depth of Clan women’s hoops

BURNABY — College basketball is filled with unexpected contingencies, the likes of which can, in the course of one offseason, drastically change the fabric of a program. Take the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball team as a prime example of that.

After being recruited out of tiny Single-A school Cedars Christian in Prince George, forward Kayla Gordon could leave Trinity Western as its all-time leading scorer in Canada West regular-season play. (Scott Stewart, Trinity Western athletics)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Kayla Gordon: From a coach’s intuition to her career fruition, TWU’s tiny-school recruit anchors Spartans’ hoop success

LANGLEY — You can’t realize your vision without first trusting your gut, and it was with that in mind that Cheryl Jean-Paul pondered everything about a unique package of talent she had suddenly found herself studying back in the summer of 2012.