CALGARY – After opening the 2010-11 Canada West season on the road in sunny Victoria, the University of Calgary Dinos basketball teams face their southern rivals, the Lethbridge Pronghorns, in their home openers Friday and Saturday at The Jack.

Friday's doubleheader is sponsored by Ranger Inspection, who will provide free admission to all fans in attendance. Fans with pre-purchased tickets will receive a voucher at the door to attend a future Dinos basketball game at no charge.

The two Dinos teams had mixed results against the Vikes last week at MacKinnon Gym, with the women dropping both while the men earned a hard-fought split. Now, they face a chance to get back on track against the Pronghorns.

For the Dinos women, this series gives them a shot at revenge. The Horns ended Calgary's 27-year playoff streak last February with a 93-84 win in Southern Alberta that gave Lethbridge the final postseason berth in Canada West.

The Horns got a split with Trinity Western in their home opener last weekend, winning 65-44 before dropping a 73-62 decision. Ranked No. 8 in the preseason Canada West coaches poll, Lethbridge returns eight players from last year's playoff squad – the most notable exception, however, is Stephanie Price. Price led Canada West in assists and was the conference's fourth-leading scorer last season, and her departure leaves a big hole to fill in the Lethbridge offence.

Kenzie Sheen-Balderson, one of three fifth-year seniors on the Horns' roster, did her best to fill that hole last week, averaging 14 points over the two nights. Former Dino Becky Heninger also had a solid outing against the Spartans.

The Dinos, meanwhile, were led by a 31-point weekend by Megan Lang as they dropped 73-57 and 81-67 decisions to the Vikes. Ashley Hill added 22, moving her past Lisa Bacigalupi into seventh spot on the Dinos' all-time scoring list with 1,264 points. Hill is now just 14 back of Lindsay Maundrell for sixth spot and, if her scoring average remains consistent with previous seasons, she could move all the way up to third (Janis Paskevich, 1,458) with an outside shot at second (Meagan Koch, 1,644). Leighann Doan is the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,958 points.

On the men's side, the Dinos meet the Horns in a re-match of last season's first-round playoff series which Calgary swept with 62-57 and 87-79 victories.

Led by a yeoman's effort from Tyler Fidler, Calgary overcame as much as a 17-point deficit last Saturday night in Victoria to emerge with an important split. The Dinos outscored the Vikes 28-10 in the fourth quarter en route to an 83-74 win after falling 68-58 one night earlier.

Fidler scored 20 points and brought down 13 rebounds, all in just 23 minutes' work as Calgary ran into foul trouble. It was a character win for the Dinos, who remain without sophomore point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson for at least another two weeks.

Andrew McGuinness was Calgary's leading scorer in Victoria, scoring 34 points over the weekend.

The Horns men also lost a Price following last season as Jeff, another former Dino, elected not to return. On the whole, though, Lethbridge got significantly bigger in the off-season, adding 6-foot-9 post Abner Kamps along with 6-foot-10 Nico Kovac, both from Casper College in Wyoming. Hot-shooting senior Danhue Lawrence returns, while Julian Spear Chief-Morris transferred to Lethbridge after a pair of seasons in Victoria.

The Horns got waxed by Trinity Western last week, giving up 40 points in the first quarter at home and falling 116-79 to the Spartans. The effort was better Saturday night, but the visitors were still victorious by a 98-82 count.

The Dinos teams head to Winnipeg next weekend to face the Wesmen for a two-game set. Following a bye week, during which men's head coach Dan Vanhooren will make a trip to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to visit with Roy Williams and the Tar Heels, Calgary returns to the Jack Simpson Gym to face the Brandon Bobcats Nov. 19-20.

-UC-