SASKATOON - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies completed a two-game sweep of the University of Calgary Dinos with a 79-73 victory Saturday night in Saskatoon.
BOX SCORE
The sweep was the second in a row for the Huskies over a divisional opponent. Last weekend, the No. 4 ranked Huskies defeated the then ranked No. 2 University of Alberta Pandas 56-49 and 60-58 and on Friday night defeated the No. 6 ranked Dinos 81-64.
With the win the Huskies move into first place in the Canada West Central Division with a 6-2 record, while Calgary drops to second place with a 6-4 record.
“To get four straight wins over divisional opponents is a great outcome for our program,” said Huskie head coach Lisa Thomaidis. “These wins will really matter in January and February when playoff spots are coming down to the wire. We played well last weekend in Alberta with strong defense and this weekend we played well enough to win. We still do have things to improve on.”
In a high scoring first quarter, Calgary had held a 10-4 lead four minutes in. The Huskies started to crawl back in the game with a six-point run that started with Alicia Wilson connecting on a foul shot. Calgary answered the run with a three point field goal from Ashley Hill to return to the 13-10. Saskatchewan answered with a Mary Hipperson three pointer and held the lead in the frame until Lauren MacDonald hit a jump shot for the Dinos to make the game 23-21 with two minutes left.
Kim Tulloch's three pointer and a Wilson jump shot gave the Huskies a 26-25 lead heading into the second quarter.
Tulloch opened the scoring in the second with a jump shot from the top of the key and helped her team pull away. But with just two minutes left in the first half, Calgary took a five point 46-41 lead to head into half time. They had regained the lead by sinking four free throws and a jump shot.
Huskies Jana Spindler and Hipperson combined to pull the team back to a 46-46 draw to begin the second half. From there the Huskies held Calgary to just 27 second half points — just 11 in the third quarter.
Calgary was able to pull within one at 58-57 heading into the final quarter on foul shots by Esther Graff. But Saskatchewan ran away with the first part of the fourth quarter only allowing Calgary to score one point in the first six minutes of the frame. Down by nine with just over a minute left in the game, Calgary was able to pull the game within four at 75-71 before Kara Lackie nailed a layup with 38 seconds left to help seal the 79-73 victory.
Hill led the Dinos with 21 points and four rebounds for the Dinos, while Kim Tulloch had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies. Prokop scored 10 for her team.
The Huskies remain at home to host the University of Manitoba Bisons and the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on the last weekend of Canada West action in the first semester next Friday and Saturday. Calgary has a bye.
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