Matt Packwood, Brandon University Athletics

BRANDON – It wasn't the start the they drew up, but they'll be more than happy with the finish as the Brandon Bobcats picked up a big 69-53 win over the Calgary Dinos in Canada West conference action at the BU Healthy Living Centre on Friday.

The Dinos stormed out of the gates jumping to a 9-0 run before Keegan Robinson hit a three to stop the bleeding for the Bobcats at the mid-point of the first quarter. Brandon would battle back from there to tie it at 19-19 in the middle of the second quarter before taking a 29-26 lead into the half.

Brandon wouldn't let off the gas from that point on, going on a 9-0 run of their own to close out the third.

The fourth saw the Bobcats take their largest lead at 63-46 before closing it out.

The win is a big one as it's Brandon's first on the season in conference play, and also ends a 13-game losing skid against Calgary in conference play.

"It was a slow start, a scary start, but we just weathered that storm and kept plugging away and focused on defence and got some good offensive looks and knocked them down," says coach Novell Thomas. 

Five Bobcats finished in double-digit scoring, and it marked the first time Keegan Robinson finished in double-digits at the home confines of the HLC in her five year career. The fifth-year combo player from Hamiota had 10 points off the bench to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

"We had two weeks of practices that were hard and intense, and going through exactly what we wanted to do this weekend, and everybody practiced really hard and it paid off," said Robinson.

Keisha Cox had a team-high 13 points while Lauren Anderson had 12, and Hailey Maas and Mikaela Stanton both finished with 10 points.

Shannon Hatch led the Dinos with a game-high 15 points.

The win improves Brandon's record to 1-4 while the Dinos pick up their second loss on the season to sit at 5-2.

The rematch goes Saturday evening back at the Brandon University Healthy Living Centre. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 pm and can be seen live on www.canadawest.tv.

Photo courtesy Brandi Pollock