SASKATOON - A strong second half was not enough to topple the No.1 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies, as the Calgary Dinos fell 76-68 on Friday in game one of the Canada West quarterfinals in Saskatoon.
BOX SCORE
Ashley Hill led the Dinos with 16 points, followed by Alex Cole with 15 points and Tamara Jarrett with 12. Jarrett was also strong on the boards with six rebounds.
Led by point guard Jill Humbert with 19 points, the Huskies now have a one game lead in the best-of-three series. Adding to Humbert's point total was Canada West leading scorer Kim Tulloch and Marci Kiselyk each with 15 points. Katie Miyazaki nabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Kiselyk added another eight for the Huskies.
Although the Huskies scored the first points of the game on a jump shot by Kiselyk, Calgary answered with five straight points by Megan Lang and Jarrett on a three point shot from the top of the arc and a jump shot just in side the key. The Dinos held the lead until a three point shot by Tulloch pulled the Huskies in front with just over a minute left. From there the Huskies took over the game, leading 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Outscoring the Dinos by 10 points at 22-12 in the second quarter, Saskatchewan extended their lead to 40-24 at halftime.
Calgary came out firing in the third quarter, scoring 22 points in the frame – five more than the Huskies. The Dinos were able to pull within nine points but it was as close as they would come until Jarrett hit a jump shot at the end of the game for the eight point deficit at the buzzer.
Calgary outscored the Huskies 44-36 in the second half but it wasn't enough to close the early lead Saskatchewan, who had the highest scoring offence in the regular season, had taken. Saskatchewan finished the game shooting 47.3%, while the Dinos shot 44.8%.
The two teams will meet again in Game 2 Saturday night at the PAC. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. Game 3 would be played Sunday at the same time. The winner of the series moves on to the Canada West Final Four. If it is the Huskies, Saskatchewan would host the tournament.
