CALGARY – Against the Brandon Bobcats at home this weekend, the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team aims to get back on track while the men continue their search for weekend consistency.

Live webcast: www.educationcdn.com/schools/dinos

At 1-5, the Dinos women have not gotten out to the start they were looking for in Canada West as they attempt to build the foundation of a consistently competitive club, especially with the CIS national tournament coming to the Jack Simpson Gym in just a year's time.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, Calgary has struggled in a facet of the game they've excelled at in Canada West for the past couple of years: offence. The Dinos are currently ninth in the conference in points, posting just 59 of them per game. This as opposed to the past two years, where Calgary has earned averages of 78.3 and 67.1 ppg, good for second in 2009-10 and fifth in 08-09, respectively.

Perhaps the most frightening statistic for any coach, however, is that Calgary currently resides in dead-last in the conference in free-throw shooting, hitting on only 48% of their tries from the charity stripe. To win close games consistently, teams have to knock down their foul shots and the Dinos undoubtedly will be looking to improve this right away.

The light at the end of the tunnel remains that Calgary boasts a fair amount of offensive potential in their line-up, with fifth year senior Ashley Hill headlining the bunch. In their home opener against Lethbridge, Hill erupted for 34 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the three point line in a classic display from the veteran, but has been unable to find that sort of output consistently.

Fourth year guard Megan Lang has had three double-digit scoring efforts through six games, while inside presence Alex Cole has had two. Cole leads the team both in rebounding as well as blocked shots, with five and 1.3 per game, respectively. Guards Megan Schaufele and Tamara Jarrett have been strong from the guard positions, each pulling down nearly as many rebounds as they do points.

Against Brandon this weekend, Calgary will have as good a chance as any to open up their offence, as the Bobcats have allowed a league-worst 89 points per game while scoring only 49.

Brandon will be without their head coach Jamie Taggart this weekend, and will look to Richie Jacobsen, an assistant coach with the men's team, for leadership against the Dinos. The Bobcats (0-6) get their biggest contributions from Amanda Fortin, who averages just less than ten points per game, and Kelsey Solarchuk, who goes for 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

The Dinos men's side has shown flashes of dominating basketball but has been equally underwhelming in other games. Calgary has been ice-cold in Friday games thus far, losing all three to start the year, but have been able to respond in each of the subsequent Saturday rematches. Against the Brandon Bobcats (2-4), Calgary is anxious to get their first weekend sweep, which could do some damage in the Canada West standings.

While a different looking team from the past couple of years where they've reached consecutive national semifinals, the Dinos are young, athletic and skilled, which can traditionally open the door for inconsistency. Calgary has five players in their second year or less earning double-digit minutes, a far cry from their veteran dominated teams of recent past.

The absence of second-year point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson hasn't been of any help either for the Dinos, as after a spectacular rookie season, the Winnipeg native has been out due to injury to start the 2010 campaign.

Fourth-year forward Tyler Fidler is the veteran presence on the team in 2010-11 and has acted the part, leading the team in points (18.3), rebounds (12.5) and minutes (31.8). His outstanding rebounding average leads the conference by a slight margin, while the Western Canada High School graduate's point total ranks ninth in Canada West.

The Dinos have been very adept on the glass, leading the conference in defensive rebounding with 29.2 per game, and also rank second in free-throw percentage. Calgary has held their opponents to a second-best 39% from the floor as well, which gives credence to their athleticism on the defensive end.

O'Brian Wallace leads the Brandon Bobcats with 18.5 points per game, while Isaiah James and Kyrie Coleman lead the team in rebounding. Brandon is second in the league from beyond the arc, hitting on 37% of their trifectas.

Much like the Dinos, Brandon is attempting to transition from their past reliance on a premier player, as Dany Charlery graduated last spring after a decorated career in the blue and gold.

Following the weekend series, Brandon will stay on the road, albeit much closer to home, to face the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg. Calgary will finish their fall semester on the road is well, but will travel to Regina instead.

-UC-