BRANDON, Man. – Despite struggling for the majority of the season, the Brandon University Bobcats succeeded in their latest attempt in playing the spoiler, shocking the visiting University of Calgary Dinos by a score of 75-66.

BOX SCORE

Calgary was led by Ashley Hill and Megan Schaufele who each had 15, while Jayla Bousquet led four Bobcats into double figures with 14.

Poor rebounding and a startling discrepancy from the free throw stripe ultimately led to the Dinos' demise. The Dinos were outrebounded 42-31, and attempted 21 less free throws despite matching the Bobcats' 67% from the line. Both Tamara Jarrett and Megan Lang fouled out for Calgary, while Brandon forward Nicisha Johnson also picked up five fouls midway through the fourth quarter.

Both teams suffered from lacklustre shooting percentages, with neither team rising above 37% from the field and 31% from the three point line. Both sides were turnover-prone as well, combining for 55 total giveaways.

Credit to the Bobcats however, who created numerous second chance opportunities with their solid effort on the offensive boards. Led by Johnson, who corralled 5 of the team's 16 offensive rebounds, Brandon was consistently rewarded either with put-back buckets or foul shot opportunities.

Brandon controlled the tempo for the majority of the second after taking the lead early in the third. The Bobcats would never trail after this, with Calgary being forced to scramble late in the final stanza.

After Bousquet nailed a wide open jumper with just over a minute left, she then answered a lay-up from Hill by nailing one of two from the line after taking Jarrett's fifth foul of the evening. The Dinos' last real chance came shortly thereafter, where down by six, Alex Cole attempted a kick out to an open Hill on the three-point line, but missed her teammate high in a fitting description of an otherwise disappointing match for Calgary.

Head coach Shawnee Harle was overall fairly frustrated with her Dinos' effort.

“I thought that BU was a better team tonight, and I thought they outplayed us on both ends of the floor,” said Harle, in her 16th year with the Dinos. “Our team has just got to make a commitment to defence and rebounding. Those have been our two weakest areas all year, and when those are your weak areas, it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your offence.

“And when that ball isn't dropping for us, our defence and rebounding simply isn't giving us a chance in games like these,” concluded the coach.

While the loss to the lowly Bobcats certainly stings, the Dinos managed to luck out in terms of playoff positioning. Saddled with the unenviable task of facing the consistently strong Alberta Pandas and Saskatchewan Huskies, both the Manitoba Bisons and the Lethbridge Pronghorns dropped their respective matches as well on Friday night, keeping the three squads even in the standings at 7-11.

The Dinos, Bisons and 'Horns are all fighting for the fifth standing in the prairie division, which is of major significance this year as all signs point to that fifth spot becoming a Canada West playoff berth. With Trinity Western currently occupying the fourth standing in the Pacific division at a lowly 4-11, a cross-over rule would come into effect, awarding the stronger fifth place Prairie finisher the fourth, and final, Pacific playoff berth.

All three will have another chance on Saturday to make amends for their earlier loss as they jostle for positioning. With a season finale match-up between the Dinos and Horns all of a sudden looking to be one of major significance, the Dinos would much prefer to be one game up on Lethbridge as they head into their Feb. 13 battle.

The Bisons finish their season with the Winnipeg Wesmen on February 11th.

The Dinos and Bobcats will do battle again on the Brandon hard-court on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. MT.

-UC-