CALGARY – In an affair marred with foul trouble for both teams, it was the University of Calgary Dinos who were able to escape the Jack Simpson Gymnasium with the victory on Friday night, beating the Fraser Valley Cascades by a score of 78-72.
BOX SCORE
With both teams struggling in terms of depth with less than ten players each dressed for the match, fouls became a significant concern down the stretch.
The Cascades, who had only eight players ready to play to begin with, had two girls foul out of the game in the fourth quarter with three more players each teetering on the edge with only a foul to give in the late stages. The trouble forced the Cascades into a less aggressive defence, something the Dinos were able to take advantage of in final stretch.
Calgary did not have a player foul out, but had four players on the verge of it with four apiece. The Dinos only had nine available players themselves with early season injuries taking their toll.
Jane Meadwell, a former Dino, had a monster game for the Cascades on Friday night, easily recording a double double with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Meadwell came into Friday's match ranked third in the conference in points at 20.5, which she easily eclipsed, and with another solid effort in Lethbridge on Saturday night should climb higher in the points race.
Meadwell, who is in her final year of eligibility for Fraser Valley, played for the UBC Thunderbirds as well as the Dinos before settling down in Abbotsford to finish out her university career.
Alex Cole shone the brightest for the Dinos on Friday, banking 23 points and 10 rebounds. With the double-double, Cole was the most consistent performer for Calgary, with only one other Dino finding double digits in points.
Dinos head coach Shawnee Harle liked what Cole did defensively as much as offensively
“Alex's offence was obviously a key for us tonight, but I thought it was her overall presence in the paint that helped us the most,” said Harle, who is in her 16th year as head of the Dinos. “She did a good job blocking and changing shots for us.”
Fourth year guard Ashley Hill, who sported an average of 22 points per game for Calgary going into the weekend to lead Canada West, had relative struggles on Friday, scoring 16 despite going 1 for 9 from behind the arc and 5 for 19 in total.
However Hill nailed her shots when it counted, where with the score deadlocked at 71 with fewer than two minutes to play, she hit a three pointer to give the Dinos the lead for good and added a late two point jump shot to ice the game. Along with Hill, Megan Lang had a good overall game, with eight points and six boards, while first year Burnaby native Elise Horton gave Calgary grit down low with five points and five boards.
The Cascades found help from Nicole Wierks, who had 11 points and six rebounds, and Courtney Bartel, who pulled down an impressive 12 rebounds. Fraser Valley out-rebounded Calgary 60-48 on the evening.
Harle was relieved to get the scrappy victory.
“Full credit to Fraser Valley tonight for how they played – they made us play ugly, and we obliged them,” said the Coach. “In basketball though, you sometimes need to win ugly, and we certainly did that tonight.”
“We have a long way to go still, and a lot of improving yet to do,” concluded Harle.
The Dinos will welcome the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack on Saturday night, while the Cascades will travel south to face the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
-UC-
