The University of the Fraser Valley women's basketball team turned in an eyebrow-raising performance in preseason action, knocking off the reigning national champion Saskatchewan Huskies 57-46 on Friday evening.

Playing at an exhibition tournament hosted by the University of Victoria, the Cascades and Huskies battled back and forth all night before a 13-0 UFV run put the game out of reach.

Deanna Tuchscherer (19 points) and Maddy Gobeil (16) had big games offensively for the Cascades, while Katriana Philipenko (13 points) and Libby Epoch (10) led the way for Sask.

Afterward, head coach Al Tuchscherer noted that Friday's performance demonstrated huge growth from his team's showing two days earlier, when they dropped a 97-89 decision to another highly touted squad, the Winnipeg Wesmen. Whereas the Wesmen nearly cracked the century mark and shot 45 per cent from the field vs. UFV, the Cascades were able to limit the Huskies to less than half that total output on 25.8 per cent shooting.

"I think the best part of it was, we're playing three really quality opponents this weekend," Al Tuchscherer began. "We played Winnipeg Wednesday and really learned some lessons there, and we tried to apply those against Saskatchewan today. The girls were really intentional about the physicality and intensity they brought to the game, and it was neat to see them take ownership of that.

"Since the Winnipeg game, we've talked a lot about defence. We made a few adjustments, but what we said to the girls was, we just need to be a bit better than we were Wednesday. It turned out we were a lot better. It's a big step for us."

The Cascades and Huskies battled back and forth on Friday – the game was tied 26-26 at the half, and UFV surged ahead 38-33 at the end of the third quarter. Sask, coached by former Canadian national team bench boss Lisa Thomaidis, made a run to open the fourth quarter, going up 45-41, but the Cascades responded with 13 straight points to pull away.

"We got a couple stops, and Deanna and Maddy scored some big hoops," Al Tuchscherer said. "Maddy, I thought, really took control of the game down the stretch and hit some big free throws."

Victoria Jacobse had a big night on the glass for the Cascades, hauling down 10 rebounds, and Madison Draayers (six points) and Nikki Cabuco (five points, two steals) also chipped in offensively.

The Cascades wrap up the weekend jaunt to Victoria by taking on the host Vikes on Saturday (3 p.m.).