Dan Kinvig, UFV Athletics
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The Calgary Dinos got the best of the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in a relentlessly rugged defensive battle on Saturday evening, grinding out a 61-40 win at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Dinos unleashed their full-court press for the vast majority of 40 minutes, forcing 26 Cascades turnovers and limiting the hosts to 27.7 per cent shooting from the field.
UFV also did a job at the defensive end, holding Calgary to 39.7 per cent from the field while winning the battle of the boards by a 40-33 count.
But the U SPORTS No. 7-ranked Dinos pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 15-3 in Canada West play, dropping the Cascades to 10-8.
"I thought I was going to have to give some refunds to the spectators at halftime," Calgary head coach Damian Jennings said with a chuckle, alluding to the modest score line (21-17 in favour of the Dinos) at the break. "It was a tough, physical weekend. Great respect to the way Al and Fraser Valley go about their business. We've always enjoyed very tough games here."
Saturday's game followed much the same script as Friday's 81-56 Calgary win, as for the second straight night, the hosts got off to a bright start. UFV built an early 9-4 lead, capped by Kate Head's layup. But the Dinos' defence found traction at that point, holding the Cascades off the scoreboard for a seven-minute stretch bridging the first and second quarters, and grabbing a 13-9 advantage.
Calgary's lead was 21-17 at the end of an intensely physical first half, and UFV remained within striking distance until midway through the fourth quarter, as the Dinos pulled away. Liene Stalidzane led the way with eight points in the final frame.
"Physically, I thought we met that challenge, and defensively we were solid," UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer said. "We made it tough for them to score. But the other side of the court was a big challenge tonight.
"We were playing a team that really is relentless in their pressure and their defence, and made us initiate offence in places we really didn't want to. We've got to get back in the gym and work on it."
Stalidzane posted a game-high 16 points for the Dinos, and Erin McIntosh scored 15.
Taylor Claggett paced the Cascades with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists, and Amanda Thompson scored 10.
"I thought Al and the (UFV) team did a wonderful job between Game 1 and Game 2, stifling us a little bit with a matchup zone at the beginning of the game," Jennings said. "Ultimately, we didn't shoot the ball well, we didn't make good decisions, we were very stale and static with it. What I did like was, we found a way in. We found some seams in that zone, and were able to find some (personnel) combinations that worked."
The Cascades wrap up the Canada West regular season with a home-and-home series with the Trinity Western Spartans – Friday at the EFAC, and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. The Dinos, meanwhile, return home to host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.