Winnipegger gets high marks on and off court By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 12:00 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023 Last Modified: 5:19 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2023 (937 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Claire Signatovich is accustomed to doing things well.

In high school, she was an accomplished student while also playing a pivotal role as the Oak Park Raiders won three consecutive provincial AAAA varsity girls basketball championships from 2016 to 2019.

While Signatovich was a star at Oak Park, she had the work ethic of a player struggling to stay in the starting lineup.

In her university life, the attitude is much the same; she is the epitome of what a well-rounded university athlete can be.

The 22-year-old Winnipegger carries a 4.0 GPA in the University of Alberta’s chemical engineering program and is also the Canada West conference’s defensive player of the year.

On Wednesday, she was named the U Sports defensive player of the year two days before she was due to lead the No. 2-ranked Pandas women’s basketball team into the U Sports national championship in Sydney, N.S., where Alberta will face the No. 7 Acadia Axewomen in quarter-final action.

“I don’t think that our alumni or players would quibble with me saying she might be the most academically gifted player we’ve had,” said Pandas head coach Scott Edwards.

“More importantly, her ability to compartmentalize her life and her ability to manage her daily schedule is profound. She is just exceptional at keeping the main thing the main thing and when she’s at school, we kind of leave her alone all day. She does school to a level of excellence and then she comes to practice.”

But sacrifices need to be made in order to cope with basketball and a demanding academic schedule. When the Pandas left Edmonton for nationals earlier this week, Signatovich had to make arrangements for missing a mid-term exam and a lab.

On the hardwood, the Pandas are on a late-season run that is the envy of Canada West.

“She is just exceptional at keeping the main thing the main thing and when she’s at school, we kind of leave her alone all day. She does school to a level of excellence and then she comes to practice.”–Scott Edwards

Seeded fourth after a 15-5 record season, Alberta thumped the Fraser Valley Cascades 73-54 in the conference quarter-finals on home court before reeling off consecutive road wins over the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies (69-57) in the conference semifinals Feb. 25 and third-seeded Calgary Dinos (76-65) in the Canada West final March 4.

The semifinal triumph over the No. 1-ranked Huskies at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon — likely Canada West’s most intimidating venue for a visiting team — was a highlight because it came only three weeks after Saskatchewan posted two double-digit wins over Alberta.

“We were just trying to take it — not even game by game — but I would say minute by minute,” said the 6-foot-1 Signatovich. “So every game, each quarter, is a new quarter, every minute is a new time to not dwell on mistakes that were made and really just play together as a team, which I think that we did really well like both or all three (playoff) wins were really great team wins where everybody was contributing.”

Signatovich’s signature game is very blue collar.

“So every game, each quarter, is a new quarter, every minute is a new time to not dwell on mistakes that were made and really just play together as a team.”–Claire Signatovich

While averaging 28.7 minutes per game, the third-year forward led Canada West in offensive rebounds (4.4 per game), combined rebounding (12.7 per game) and blocked shots (2.3 per game) while her 13.4 points per game were second on the team, well back of guard Emma Kary’s team-leading 17.7 per game total.

“In Claire’s rookie year, she was a forward who came off the bench for a really veteran team that made the national championship and so she’s one of the few kids who has some experience playing (at the nationals),” said Edwards, who has guided the program since 2006-07. “Her development over these three years has been exponential. She’s just elevated her game.

“I always knew she was a very good defender and a very good rebounder out of high school and it’s just been fun this season watching her add so much offensive confidence to her game. She’s added a bit of an outside jump shot, which has complemented her ability to attack. She’s become a force at both ends of the floor.”

Signatovich’s reluctance to shoot prompted Edwards to institute a 10-shot minimum in her second season. She frequently fails to meet the quota.

“What’s really great about how we’ve been playing recently is that we’ve had a lot of scoring from so many different people so I feel like it doesn’t really matter too much because we’ve been having such big contributions from everyone,” said Signatovich.

It was true to form when Signatovich scored seven points but hauled in 20 rebounds in the win over Calgary to capture the program’s first conference title.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca