CALGARY – Not one to mince words, University of Calgary women's basketball coach Shawnee Harle is up front with her expectations for the 2010-11 Canada West season.

“Our season is about the big one next year,” said the 17-year bench boss. “Everything we talk about every day is nationals.”

Calgary will host the 2012 CIS Women's Basketball Championship in the Jack Simpson Gym. Already guaranteed a spot at the dance next year, Harle would like to see her charges crash the party a year early.

“Our goal is to get there this year, because the host team has never won a women's basketball championship and in my experience, teams that haven't been there before struggle.”

It's a lofty goal for a team that missed the playoffs for the first time since 1982 last season. But with virtually the entire roster back and some key additions, the Dinos are certainly a better team on paper than they were a year ago.

In the pre-season Canada West coaches' poll, the Dinos were ranked sixth out of 13 teams.

The lone fifth-year senior on the squad is Ashley Hill, the team's leading scorer for the past three seasons who currently sits eighth on the school's all-time scoring list. She's joined by post Alex Cole and guards Tamara Jarrett and Megan Lang as the core of a team that has had an offence-first mentality – Calgary was second in the conference in scoring last season behind the now-departed national champion Simon Fraser Clan.

There are five new players on the roster in 2010-11, and every one of them has seen significant playing time in the Dinos' two pre-season tournaments, where they've posted a 4-2 record. Harle's trademark has been to play her bench 12 deep, and that trend will continue as the Dinos try to make every game a track meet and wear down their opponents.

The most intriguing addition is Lawrie Saunders, a 6-foot-3 forward out of tiny Alix, Alta. What she lacks in basketball experience, she has made up on the rodeo circuit – she is a national champion calf roper, and Harle has been impressed with her toughness to this point.

“The biggest surprise has been Lawrie Saunders,” she said. “She doesn't have much basketball background or experience, but her rodeo pedigree has been a tremendous asset to her. She's way further up the line than we thought she'd be.”

Calgary native Kiersten Hilton is solid on the glass, while White Rock, B.C.'s Sarah Allison rounds out the recruiting class with her shooter's mentality.

It all starts for real on Friday night when the Dinos play the first of a two-game series against the Vikes in Victoria. For Harle, the trip to the Island is a homecoming – she grew up in nearby Campbell River, played for Victoria, and started her coaching career with the Vikes under the legendary Kathy Shields.

“It's always an emotional time for me going back to Victoria, and I'm really looking forward to it,” Harle said. “It's my favourite weekend of the year – even though UVic's home winning record is one of the best of the country. They're a really, really good team on that court, so our challenges are numerous.

“But that's Canada West basketball. That's how it is every night.”

-UC-