Logan Reider's record game has Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball riding high into playoff season

Logan Reider's record-setting game in late November started innocuously enough.

The Saskatchewan Huskies basketball player went through a forgettable warmup — not great, not terrible.

A night before, the third-year sharpshooter had made just two of eight three-point attempts in a game against the Thompson River WolfPack.

Her struggles caught head coach Lisa Thomaidis's attention.

"When we get in the gym and she gets reps up, she's consistently shooting 70 per cent from the three-point line. And so I kind of teased her and said, 'Logan, where's that 70 per cent?' And she's like, 'Oh, I don't know, [just a] bad night,'" Thomaidis said.

"The funny thing is she comes out the next night and just starts drilling threes."

Indeed, Reider began the rematch against Thompson River 24 hours later by nailing her first three shots from beyond the arc.

And then she hit another, and another, and six more after that. Reider's 11 three-point makes tied a Canadian women's university, while her 40 points set a new Huskies mark.

"It was just one of those moments where [she] didn't have a great one and then came back like, 'I'm gonna show you, coach.' It was pretty incredible to watch," Thomaidis said. "I think for her, it's just knowing that we want her to take those shots. We want her to hunt some threes. And so that was a game where she got on a roll and she wasn't passing up any shots."

The challenge

Now the challenge for Reider, the 19-year-old from Saskatoon, is for her and the Huskies to carry that momentum into second semester and, eventually, into March's national championship tournament at UBC.

The game against the Wolfpack was the last of the first half of the season, and the Huskies don't return to the court until hosting Mount Royal on Jan. 10.

Reider said her breakout game was a product of simply playing within the system.

"I think we were just happy that we were able to get those shots without having to run through plays and we were focusing on that from the beginning of the game," Reider said. "It's nice going into second semester with a win like that."

After missing out on the Final 8 during her rookie campaign, Reider and the Huskies advanced to last year's championship game before falling 70-67 against the Carleton Ravens.

The plan is to use the after-effects from Reider's eruption to get over the final hump in 2025.

"I think with that momentum of a win it will help us just get better, realize we have to what we have to do going forward, how it feels to be shooting the ball well, passing the ball well, running our offence well," Reider said.

It also helps having a coach in Thomaidis, who used to help the Canadian women's national team and now leads its German counterpart.

"That's just our coach and like, we don't even realize she is so knowledgeable and our scouts going into games, we always know what to expect. She knows what we should run. At the end of the game, she'll give us a play and they always work out," Reider said

"It's not one of those teams that we just end up plateauing. We always are peaking when we need to."

Reider leans on Thomaidis

Reider has leaned on Thomaidis on a personal level, too.

After being named Canada West's rookie of the year two seasons ago, Reider suffered through a sophomore slump last season as she saw both her scoring average and minutes take a tumble

Her most recent performance, then, could also be considered the culmination of her resurgence as a key player for the Huskies.

"[Thomaidis is] always there rebounding for me and she has confidence in me, which helps me also have confidence in myself," Reider said.

Thomaidis said the sophomore slump is not just limited to Reider — it's a common phenomenon in U Sports, where players start popping up on opponents' game plans but don't necessarily have the experience to handle it.

Now, Reider is finding different ways to impact the game beyond her shooting.

"I think she's really attacked this season with that kind of mindset. She wants to get after it. She's not going to wait for things to come to her. She's going to be a little more aggressive, a little more proactive. And I think that's been reflected in a lot of her games this year," Thomaidis said.

Playing professionally is the goal

Reider said her goal in basketball is to play professionally overseas. She's also spent some time in Canada Basketball's 3x3 program, which she said has translated to bolstered chemistry among her Huskies teammates in five on five.

But basketball wasn't always in the stars for Reider.

She grew up playing multiple sports and won St. Joseph High School's athlete of the year award four times.

"I was trying to just have a good time. I played badminton to just fill up my time. I had nothing better to do. So they kind of had to give it to me just cause I did everything," Reider said.

Reider's passion for sports may be a result of her athletics-oriented family. Her mom Reanne played volleyball for the Huskies, while father Shane was on the football team.

Her brother, Trey, plays on the junior football Saskatoon Hilltops squad and was always up to go head-to-head against Logan in basketball, too.

"A lot of people talk about how their families travel and maybe you're more academic-oriented. My family was all about sports. Live, breathe, everything sports," Reider said.

That competitive spirit may have lifted her to that memorable 40-point performance.

Consequently, Thomaidis noted, she'll have a new challenge when play resumes.

"I kind of joked with her and said, 'After a night like that, you probably just bought yourself a face guard for the rest of the season. You're not going to see much daylight for the rest of the season,'" Thomaidis said.

"But the good thing is how Logan responds to any challenges. She just works harder and she figures out ways to be better."