CALGARY – The University of Calgary men's and women's basketball teams head to the eastern prairies this weekend to take on their second Manitoba opponent in as many weeks, clashing with the Manitoba Bisons for a two game set.

The Dinos women's team comes off of a weekend where they went 1-1 against the Winnipeg Wesmen, dropping a two point decision on Friday before taking the Saturday match by a six point margin.

Ashley Hill, who in only her fourth year is the most experienced Dino on the team, kicked the regular season off on a strong note, averaging 23 points over the two games, which is good for second in Canada West after the opening weekend. It was particularly encouraging for the Dinos to see Hill put together back to back solid outings, who while capable of putting up monster numbers on any given night (see: a 37 point explosion against Lethbridge in January of last season), has struggled with consistency over her career.

Head coach Shawnee Harle has also received very positive contributions in the early going from Alex Cole (12 points, six rebounds and three blocks per game), and Megan Lang (11 points and six rebounds). Rookie guard Tamara Jarrett introduced herself nicely to Canada West as well, scoring 18 points to go along with six assists in the Dinos' Friday loss. 

The Manitoba Bisons are undefeated after an opening weekend sweep of their provincial rivals, the Brandon Bobcats, edging them by margins of four and six points.

Manitoba is led by backcourt partners Kayla Klassen and Michelle Hynes, who posted averages of 13 and 12.5 points respectively in the sweep of the Bobcats. The Herd will be looking for a better effort down low this weekend as well after getting out-rebounded substantially in their opening weekend.

The Dinos men's team heads to the U of M campus this weekend after obliterating the Bisons' cross-town rivals, the Winnipeg Wesmen, by an average of 38.5 points. The Dinos had a great chance last weekend to showcase their depth, where no player saw more than 30 minutes, and everyone saw time on the court.

Rookie point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who got the most minutes for the Dinos in his Canada West debut, should get a nice reception when Calgary tips off with the Bisons despite wearing rival colours. The 5'9” speedster honed his craft at Garden City Collegiate High School in Winnipeg, and will get his latest chance to showcase his skills in front of family and friends.

Despite losing star forward Henry Bekkering to graduation, the Dinos frontcourt did not miss a beat against the Wesmen. Senior Ross Bekkering, who was a second-team All Canadian in 2008, pulled down an average of 13.5 rebounds in both games despite playing limited minutes, while fellow fifth-year Robbie Sihota averaged a very solid 20 points and eight rebounds.

Third year forward Tyler Fidler had perhaps the most impressive performance of the weekend, where on Saturday night he was three assists shy of a triple double with 24 points, 10 boards and seven assists.

Manitoba split their weekend series with the Brandon Bobcats, winning the Friday match before giving up 106 regulation points on Saturday. With the high-powered Calgary offence coming into town, a much better defensive effort will be needed.

Bisons guard Nathan Dixon leads the squad with 14.5 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Richard Reimer had 6.5 boards to lead the charge in the post for the Herd.

-UC-