CALGARY - With one more weekend set to go before the semester break, the University of Calgary Dinos will need to go on the road to finish on a high note, where they will take on the tough Trinity Western Spartans and Simon Fraser Clan.

The Dinos women, after a 5-1 start to the season, dropped both of their games to the #2 Saskatchewan Huskies this past weekend, and are at very separate ends of the spectrum in team statistical categories.

Despite a rough 83-62 point loss to the Huskies on Saturday, the Dinos (5-3) are still the most powerful offence in CIS through eight games with an average of 83.6, slightly better than that of the defending national champion Simon Fraser Clan, whom they face on Saturday night. This staggering number is offset somewhat by their scoring defence, as the Dinos give up almost as many points (82) as they score - good for last in Canada West.  

Ashley Hill, despite struggling in Saskatoon, still leads the Dinos and is fifth in the conference with 17.3 ppg. Alex Cole is only slightly behind Hill in scoring at 15.8 ppg, and adds 6.4 rebounds from her post position.

Out of the backcourt, rookie Tamara Jarrett averaged 12.5 points in her two games against the Huskies, and Megan Schaufele added 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday's loss.

The Spartans (2-4) have one of the better post players in the country in 6'1” Lauren Doubroff, who is averaging 15 points and nine rebounds, and sport a solid all-around perimeter threat in Emily Knauf, who has 13 points and three steals per game.

The top-ranked Clan (5-0) is off to a blistering start, beating opponents by an average of 32.6 points per game in their first five matches, and has shot an outstanding 0.505 percentage from the floor as a team. Laurelle Weigl, a senior national team member, leads the well balanced club with 14.6 points per game, while Kate Miyazaki has caused fits for opposing offensive players in swiping 4.8 balls per game.

The Calgary men had an uncharacteristically bad performance in Saskatoon last Friday night, where in an 86-67 loss both their offence and defence were nowhere to be found.

While Ross Bekkering (36 points, eight rebounds) and the Dinos (7-1) made amends on Saturday night in an 80-76 victory, they will be looking to get back to their spirit-crushing ways against a couple of Pacific opponents.

Bekkering leads Calgary, which remains first in scoring offence and defence in Canada West, with 19.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Third year swingman Tyler Fidler (14.3 points/6.8 rebounds) and forward Robbie Sihota (15.6 points) round out the imposing Calgary frontcourt which, aside from the loss to the Huskies, has been fantastic all year.

Fifth year floor general Jamie McLeod has quietly put together a strong start to the season in his supporting role, sitting narrowly in second for the conference lead in assists and steals with 5.4 and 2.9 respectively.

Perhaps one of the best equipped teams to battle the Dinos in Canada West, the Trinity Western Spartans (3-2) are set to host Calgary for a Friday night match in Langley that will pit 2008-09 CIS player of the year Jacob Doerksen against Bekkering in a marquee matchup in the post.

Doerksen, who teamed with Bekkering on Canada's basketball team at the Summer Universiade in Belgrade, has been superb thus far with averages of 20 points and 6 rebounds per game, while Portland State transfer Tyrell Myra has averaged just over nine rebounds per game for the Spartans.

On Saturday the Dinos will travel to Burnaby to face the Clan, who at 5-0 have been unexpectedly powerful in the Pacific division. With the excellent start, the Clan found the CIS rankings this past week, coming in at No. 10.

The Clan is led by their sharpshooter Kevin Shaw, whose average of 13.8 points is made up almost exclusively from three-point field goals, and guard Sean Burke's 13.6 points per game.

-UC-