CALGARY – With the unique opportunity of six straight home games ahead of them, the Dinos women's basketball team looks to grab some important wins over the next three weeks. And it all starts with their archrivals.
The University of Alberta Pandas pay their first visit to the Jack under the new divisional structure in Canada West, meaning this weekend will feature the only meetings of the season between the two foes. It also means that hoops fans will have to wait until the 2011-12 season to see Alberta playing regular season basketball games in Calgary.
The Pandas (7-5) hold a half-game lead over the Dinos (6-5) in the Prairie Division logjam that features four teams at the six-win mark. So far, the only teams clear of the others are at the top and the bottom of the standings with Regina above the fray at 8-2 while Brandon languishes at 1-11. With so many teams packed so tightly together, divisional games take on greater significance – and the Dinos could be anywhere from second to second-last in the standings after the Alberta series.
The Pandas have had the Dinos' number of late, winning 10 of the past 12 meetings dating back to the 2006-07 season. While the personnel has changed for both teams this season and they're much closer to each other in the standings, the series will pit strength against strength as the high-flying Calgary offence, which averages 83 points per game, against a stingy Alberta defence that has given up less than 64.
The Dinos' last action came in a 90-83 defeat in another rare occurrence, the single-game weekend, last Saturday in Lethbridge. With just eight players dressed, Calgary got strong performances from freshman
Tamara Jarrett (23 points) and fourth-year senior
Ashley Hill (21 points) but committed 27 turnovers on the night. Calgary looks to right the ship this weekend after dropping four of their past five games, and head coach Shawnee Harle may have some good news on the injury front with the expected return of
Alex Cole, the team's second-leading scorer, to the lineup after sitting out more than a month.
It has been an up-and-down year for the Pandas, with a pair of big wins at Victoria and UBC followed by two losses at home to the Regina Cougars. Alberta has dropped four of its last six conference games.
The Pandas' top three scorers average between 12 and 15 points per game in Marisa Haylett (14.7), Nicole Clarke (13.1) and Emily Bolduc (12.8).
The Pack the Jack Six Pack homestand continues next weekend with a marquee Pacific Division match-up. The opener has the Victoria Vikes in town for another historic rivalry, while next Saturday night the UBC Thunderbirds pay a visit.
At all six games of the homestand, the first 100 University of Calgary students in attendance will receive a free six-inch sandwich courtesy of Subway® Restaurants and all students can enter to win a variety of prizes, the value of which will increase with attendance at subsequent games. Students that attend at least five of the six games will be entered into a draw for a ski weekend for four at Whitefish Mountain resort in Montana, courtesy the University of Calgary Alumni Association.
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