Queen's Women's Basketball opened their U SPORTS Women's Final 8 Championship with a big 69-54 win over the SMU Huskies in the quarterfinals.

The game was tight through the first half, with the No. 6 seed Gaels holding a one-point lead over No. 3 seed SMU after the first quarter and only growing it to five points at half time. But Queen's would run away with the contest in the second half, outscoring the Huskies by six points in the third quarter and another four points on their way to the 15-point win.

A day after being named the first U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian in program history, Julia Chadwick helped lead the way for Queen's on both ends of the court, leading all players in both points and rebounds while recording a massive double double. Chadwick (Ottawa, Ont.) finished with 25 points and 27 rebounds in the win. The 27 rebounds Thursday tied Chadwick's single-game regular season record for rebounds, set earlier this year against York.

"Just an incredible performance. She has done that all season for us," said Gaels Head Coach Claire Meadows. "She has been an absolute monster for us on the boards, and for her to do that in the first game of nationals is pretty impressive."

Emma Weltz also had a strong performance for the Gaels and was named the team's Player of the Game after the win. Weltz (Timmins, Ont.) was second on Queen's in scoring, finishing with 16 points while adding six rebounds and two steals, one of which was a highlight reel play robbing a Huskies player of a breakaway lay-up.
 
Laura Donovan (London, Ont.) also finished in double digits in scoring for Queen's in the win, finishing with 10 points.

With the victory, the Gaels advanced to the U SPORTS Women's Final 8 Championship semifinals where they will face the No. 2 seed Carleton Ravens in a rematch of last year's U SPORTS Women's Basketball Championship and last week's OUA Critelli Cup Championship. Queen's and Carleton have faced each other three times this season, with the Gaels looking to earn their first victory over the Ravens and a spot in the championship game Saturday.

"We will have to play a full 40 minutes. I think we learned that from the OUA Final," continued Meadows. "That has to be our full emphasis for Saturday, is to play the full 40 against Carleton."

Tip-off for Queen's semifinal game against Carleton is Saturday. Catch all the action live on CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca, and the CBC YouTube channel.