CALGARY – Down by nine points at the half, the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball squad bounced back in the third quarter with a stifling defensive effort before handing the UBC Thunderbirds just their fourth loss of the season with a 71-66 come-from-behind win Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

BOX SCORE

The host Dinos (7-8) took advantage of a trio of miscues from the Thunderbirds (10-4) late and hit enough free throws over the final 60 seconds to snatch the victory, while Ashley Hill shot an otherworldly 7-for-11 from three-point land on the night.

“I think that the close losses we had last weekend against Alberta hurt, but we learned from them,” said Calgary head coach Shawnee Harle. “I think we played with poise tonight, and we got huge stops when we needed to – and we learned that by not getting those stops last weekend. With a young team like this, every weekend there seems to be an epiphany and a learning experience. We've been dumber than a sack of hammers some nights, but I think we've learned from that too.”

Alex Cole went 1-for-2 from the line with 1:57 remaining in the game to put her Dinos up 67-65.  Devan Lisson had a chance to pull UBC even a minute later but a missed free throw that allowed Calgary to maintain a one-point lead.

Following a defensive stop from the 'Birds, UBC turned the ball over on their next possession due to a shot clock violation.  Forced to foul, UBC sent Megan Lang to the line with 18 seconds left.

Lang made her first free throw to put Calgary up 68-66.  She missed her second, however, and Calgary rookie Robyn Gibson came down with a huge board for the hosts, earning a trip the line in the process.

The rookie hit one of two to increase the Dinos lead to 69-66.  The T-Birds called a time out to draw up a play to tie with just 17 seconds left on the clock but didn't take advantage, committing another costly turnover with 11 seconds remaining.  Tilly Ettinger iced the game for Calgary with a pair from the line.

Hill led the Dinos with 25 points on nine field goals, seven of which were from behind the arc, while Lang also cracked double figures with 13 points.

“Ashley Hill was an All-Canadian tonight,” said Harle. “I also thought Robyn Gibson was an unsung hero. Her defence never shows up in the stats, and the 'O' glass she got on that missed free throw late…she's a ditch-digger, but there's no stat for that.”

Alex Vieweg had a T-Bird best 21 points, on 8-of-12 shooting, but she was the only T-Bird to have any success on the road Saturday as UBC combined to go 19-of-62 from the field (30.6%).

UBC managed to control the flow of the game, however, and earned 38 free throws but failed to take advantage making just 26 (68.4%). 

The Dinos, who had just five free throws until the final minutes of the game, relied on the three-point shooting of Hill and Co. (10-of-21, 47.6%) to come back from a nine-point half-time deficit.

The hosts took a 22-20 lead late in the first quarter on a Hill three-pointer, but it was mostly UBC in the second frame.  An 8-0 run, that saw Zara Huntley net six of her 18 points, had UBC ahead 33-26 with five minutes to play in the half.  A 7-0 run from the 'Birds followed late in the quarter put them up 40-28 but that advantage proved to not be enough in the second half.

The Dinos made their move late in the third quarter, closing the frame on a 16-2 run that earned them a two-point lead heading into the fourth.

The win snaps a five-game conference losing skid for Calgary heading into the stretch drive.

“Honestly, looking at the schedule I wasn't sure if we'd be able to win a game in the month of January,” said Harle. “That's just realistic. To take one tonight against a very good team was huge, because down the stretch there are some things that need to happen and I thought we made those things happen tonight.

“But we haven't won anything. We won a game, which is great, but we're going to be fighting for our lives the rest of the way.”

UBC remains on the road next weekend as they travel to Burnaby for a single game on Saturday against No. 1-ranked SFU.  The Dinos close out a six-game homestand when they host the Regina Cougars next weekend in a pair of games with major playoff implications in the Prairie Division.

-UC-