EDMONTON - The No.3 University of Alberta Pandas basketball team came up with another big victory Saturday night over the Manitoba Bisons, winning by a score of 80-56 at the Saville Community Sports Centre. The win moves the Pandas to 11-2 on the season while the loss drops the Bisons to 1-13 on the year. 

The Pandas were led offensively by senior forward Saskia Van Ginhoven who had 17 points, going 6-for-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Senior guard Sally Hillier led Alberta in rebounds with six and assists with five. Alberta had another great night at the charity stripe as they led the country at 81% coming into the weekend and shot 20-for-23 on Saturday, or 87%.

The Bisons were led offensively by senior guard Robyn Eyer, who entered the weekend leading the Bisons in three-point percentage (41.8%) and was on fire in tonight's match, shooting 7-for-13 from beyond the arc and finishing with 23 points. Senior forward Vanessa DeVries led Manitoba in rebounding with seven.

The Pandas started this one off very strong, jumping out quickly to an 11-4 lead to start, paced by six early points from fourth-year guard Jessilyn Fairbanks. The Pandas would continue to hold that lead and extend it to 13 after one quarter, paced by two three-pointers from fourth-year guard Megan Wickstrom to lead 23-10 after 10 minutes.

The Pandas started the second on a 7-2 run to jump up 30-12 on the Bisons but Manitoba would finish ahead 12-10 in the quarter from there as Alberta led 40-24 at half.

In the third quarter, Robin Eyer got hot and fast. She knocked down four consecutive threes to start the third and was able to quickly trim the Alberta lead down to only eight at 44-36.

Alberta responded just as quick, however, finishing the half on a 13-3 run to lead 57-39 after three quarters.

In the final 10 minutes, it was all Pandas, as they went on a 17-5 run to jump out to a commanding 74-44 run and finished the game from there, winning 80-56.

The Pandas now head into a pivotal weekend in Regina, where they will take on the 10-4 Cougars in a key battle for top spot in the conference at 5 p.m. MT Friday and Saturday night. The Pandas will then return home January 30th and 31st to take on the Brandon Bobcats. The Bisons, meanwhile, will return home to take on the Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night at 6 p.m. CT and Saturday night at 5 p.m. CT.