Winning At Every Level

Sarah Te-Biasu isn’t unfamiliar with playing basketball on the world’s biggest stages. 

The Maryland graduate student-athlete studying government and politics starred for the Canadian Youth National Team from 2017-19. She competed in various competitions, including the FIBA U19 and U17 Women's Basketball World Cups and the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship. So, she was prepared for the moment when she competed for Canada in the first-ever women’s 3x3 basketball event at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. 

“It was really great, the experience was nice,” Te-Biasu said of her youth national team experiences. “I got to travel to many different countries, and it was good. It prepared me for university because it was really physical in Europe. The basketball is different. It prepared me just for the physicality.”

Te-Biasu and her team were tied at 13 apiece in the 3x3 championship game against England. With the ball in her hands, she realized the 12-second shot clock was winding down. The Montreal native channeled her inner Derrick Rose — someone she emulates her game after — and drove right to the basket past two defenders and put up a finger roll layup.  

The horn sounded, the backboard lit up red, and the ball went through the bottom of the net. Te-Biasu’s buzzer-beating layup allowed Canada to defeat England, 14-13, in a thriller to claim the gold medal and become champions.

Te-Biasu’s Canadian squad played 3v3 for the first time together. In the title game, she scored seven points. 

“The experience was really nice,” Te-Biasu said. “My team, we never played three-on-three, so it was really a first experience. We played as a team, and then we got better through the tournament.” 

The experience occurred three months before Te-Biasu’s junior year at VCU. She later became an All-Atlantic 10 First and Third-Team selection and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. She says her 3v3 experience undoubtedly helped her become a better player.  

“It kind of prepared and helped me with my game because you have to be able to guard,” Te-Biasu said. “You can't really switch sometimes, and just my IQ and my fundamentals and all that. It was a really nice experience.”

After playing for VCU from 2020-24, Te-Biasu transferred to Maryland for the final season of her collegiate basketball career. Maryland women’s basketball head coach Brenda Frese stressed the importance of bringing in a true point guard over the offseason through the transfer portal. She says Te-Biasu has fulfilled that need. 

“As that primary ball handler, she takes a lot of that pressure off of both Shy and Bri, so they're not having to play as many minutes, and they can score the way we need them to be able to score,” Frese said. “She does a phenomenal job getting us into our offense and being able to run a team.”

Te-Biasu’s backcourt teammate, Bri McDaniel, echoed a similar sentiment. She recognized her impact on the team, helping put others in positions to excel — something stats don’t always show.  

“She's very important having the ball in her hands and being able to put us in great positions to score,” McDaniel said. “Even getting herself in easy positions to score and being a pesky defender. Just being there, she does a lot for this team. She's just a great all-around player that we needed for a long time, and now that we have her, we just utilize her.” 

Te-Biasu was born in Canada, and her parents moved there from Congo once they had her older sister. She first began playing soccer but was introduced to basketball when she was 9. As she explains it, she was playing basketball at the park with her friends when one of them showed her who Derrick Rose was. Te-Biasu instantly fell in love with the sport, and the former Chicago Bulls MVP became her favorite player.

She played basketball in Montreal and Niagara in high school, but her college recruitment took off when she began playing AAU for Canada Elite. She had many offers, but VCU swooped in at the last minute and secured her commitment.

Te-Biasu’s career with the Rams was exceptional. She averaged 13.8 points, 2.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 107 games over her four-year career. She finished her career ranked ninth on VCU’s career scoring list with 1,478 career points.

Off the court, Te-Biasu is just as talented. She earned a criminal justice degree at VCU and is pursuing a master’s in government and politics at Maryland. She even speaks three languages, including French, English and Lingala.