CALGARY – For the second straight night they held their archrivals under 65 points, and the fifth-ranked University of Alberta Pandas will head back to Edmonton with a well-deserved series sweep over the No. 6 Calgary Dinos after a dominating 82-61 win Saturday night.

BOX SCORE

After taking a slim three-point lead into the second quarter, the Pandas began to pull away in the second as the Dinos could not solve their tenacious defence. Katie Barrett dialed up a long-distance three-ball that beat the buzzer to end the first half, ending what looked to be a promising Calgary comeback and sending the visitors into the break with a nine-point lead at 40-31.

Any chance the Dinos had was quickly put to rest in the third quarter as the Pandas hit shots from all over the court, shooting 71 per cent in the period compared to just 42 for Calgary. Alberta racked up 24 points while holding the Dinos to just 14 and took a 64-45 lead into the fourth quarter.

Calgary managed just four field goals in the final 10 minutes and, though the Pandas' shooting cooled off as well, the lead stretched to 21 by the time the final buzzer sounded.

The Pandas held the statistical advantage in most categories again Saturday night, albeit by smaller margins in most. Alberta took the battle of the glass 32-26, while the Dinos' 31 turnovers were four more than the Pandas' 27. Four Pandas hit double digits in scoring, led by Nicole Clarke's 15 in just 25 minutes' work. Ashley Wigg added 14 along with five assists, while Kristin Jarock and Melanie Schlichter added 10 apiece. Schlichter also led her side with six rebounds on the night.

For Calgary, Ashley Hill's 13 points matched her number on the floor to lead the Dinos, while freshman Alex Cole added 10. Whitney Haswell had nine points to go with a game-high seven rebounds

After entering the weekend with just a one-game lead over Calgary in the division standings, the Pandas improve to 9-3 on the season, three full games ahead of their provincial rivals (6-6) with 10 games left in the season. Both the Dinos and Pandas will keep it in the division next weekend, as Alberta hosts Lethbridge in a two-game series, while the Dinos will welcome the Saskatchewan Huskies to the Jack Jan. 9-10. The Huskies and Pronghorns will both be coming off short weeks, as they are set to play a two-game series in Saskatoon beginning Sunday.

-UC-