BOX SCORE

CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos inched closer to solidifying a playoff berth Saturday night as they pulled off an impressive 13-point victory over their archrivals, dropping the No. 5-ranked Alberta Pandas 74-61 in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Led by an impressive performance by fifth-year point guard Jenna Kaye, who showed why she was named an All-Canadian during her time in the Atlantic conference, the Dinos jumped out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter and continued to build on it from there as they improved to 10-5 on the season while dropping the Pandas to 11-4. Kaye scored 20, added a team-high seven rebounds, and chipped in four assists and three steals for the Dinos.

Calgary sits in fourth place with a two-game lead over Winnipeg for the final playoff spot in the east division. Just one game now separates Calgary, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in the battle for second place, which brings along with it a home playoff series.

The game was essentially won in the first quarter, as Calgary responded to a quick 4-0 deficit with an 11-2 run that put them in the lead for good just under three minutes into the contest. That lead stretched to as many as 19 points midway through the second quarter, but a late run by the Pandas preserved an eight-point deficit at the half.

Alberta game out firing in the third quarter and cut the lead down to just three, but that's as close as they would come as the Dinos continued to chip away and established a 10-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter. From there, it was all about maintenance for Calgary as they broke down a Pandas defence that had averaged just 57.1 points per game coming into the contest.

Calgary played without the services of fifth-year guard Megan Lang and third-year post Samara Pereira, and the starting five of Kaye, Jessica Franz, Tamara Jarrett, Ashley Hirons, and Alex Cole carried the bulk of the load for Calgary. Kaye and Jarrett both saw 34 minutes of action, while Cole was especially dominant when she was on the floor. The fourth-year forward played just 19 minutes on the night because of early foul trouble, but she still managed 16 points.

Jarrett and Franz added 13 each for Calgary, with Jarrett matching Kaye's total of seven rebounds.

Alberta's Clarke, a Calgary native, scored 16 to lead her side while Saskia Van Ginhoven was the only other Panda in double digits with 10 points. Katie Arbuthnot led all players with  nine rebounds on a night where the visitors out-boarded the Dinos by a 42-40 margin but couldn't overcome Calgary's 42.2 per cent shooting.

The Dinos and Pandas will renew acquaintances Saturday night in the rematch, with tip-off at 6 p.m. in the Jack live on CanadaWest.tv.

Calgary hosts the 2012 CIS Women's Basketball Final 8 March 17-19 in the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-