Kellen Forrest; Dinos Communications

CALGARY – Back on their home floor for the first time in a month, the No. 7 University of Calgary Dinos defeated the Thompson Rivers WolfPack handily by a score of 82-49 Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Third-year Dino Liene Stalidzane opened the scoring at the 9:06 mark of the first quarter with a three from the right wing, and the Dinos would not look back from there. Calgary would lead for the remaining 39:06, and push their win streak to an incredible 14 games.

With the win, the Dinos now have a 16-3 record, and are in the driver's seat to gain a top two seed in the Canada West playoffs. The WolfPack falls to 4-15 with just one game remaining in the Canada West regular season.

Calgary's defence was relentless on the night, holding TRU to just 33.4 per cent shooting from the field. Erin McIntosh, Laura Grabe, and Katie Upham each had steals which would lead to easy offence for the Dinos, as they had 29 points off of WolfPack turnovers. Meanwhile, TRU was able to create just six points off of Dinos mistakes.

While the Dinos were in control for the majority of the game, it was the beginning of the fourth quarter that would seal the game for the home squad. With the score 58-40 to end the third quarter, Calgary would go on a 15-0 run to open the fourth, pushing their lead to 73-40.

"It was not really anything particularly from me, but just our style of play, our conditioning, and our players just took it to another level," said Dinos Head Coach Damian Jennings when asked what he told his team heading into the fourth. "Our defence just really ramped up."

WolfPack leading scorer Michelle Bos was the main reason TRU was able to stay within striking distance through the first three quarters. Bos lead the WolfPack in points, rebounds, and assists, orchestrating most of the successful TRU offensive possessions.

While the Dinos substantially outsized the WolfPack, it was actually Calgary's outside shooting that would be key for them on the offensive end. The Dinos would shoot an outstanding 52.6 per cent from three, as they would connect on 10 of 19 from deep.

McIntosh once again led the way for the Dinos with a team-high 15 points, which included going 3 for 4 from long range. Upham and Jordyn Cullum would help out on the glass, as they both pulled down 7 rebounds on the night.

The teams will be right back at it tomorrow in the Jack Simpson Gym, as tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT on CanadaWest.tv.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll