CALGARY – Traditional power got the better of upstart success Friday as the seventh-ranked University of Alberta Pandas ran past the No. 5 University of Calgary Dinos 46-24 in the teams' lone meeting of the season.

After jumping out to an early 18-0 lead, the Pandas took a 28-11 lead into the half and never looked back, improving to 3-0-0 on the season. Calgary, meanwhile, falls to 3-1-0 and awaits the result of the final game of the regular season Sunday in Lethbridge between the Pronghorns and the Pandas, which will determine the final league standings.

Chelsea Guthrie was a force on the pitch for the Pandas, scoring three tries to give her five on the season – one back of the leader, Calgary's Kelcey Leavitt. Steff Hoffman, Louise Chavarie, Paige Ferries, and Rebecca Fairbairn also crossed the goal line for Alberta, while Teanna chase converted four of those tries and added a penalty goal for an 11-point outing.

For the Dinos, Leavitt along with Brenna Walker, Natasha Loucks, and Amanda Williams scored tries, while Kate Scotland kicked a pair of converts.

The Dinos did benefit from the extra point in the standings for scoring four tries in the match. As a result, Calgary still sits in first place in the Canada West standings with 16 points, followed by Alberta with 15 and Lethbridge with 10. All three are already confirmed to attend next weekend's championship tournament in Edmonton, from which the champion will advance to the CIS championship in Antigonish, N.S. What's left to be determined, however, is the order of finish and the semi-final match-ups: a Lethbridge win of eight or more points over Alberta Sunday coupled with the Pandas scoring three or fewer tries would give the Dinos first place outright, while myriad other scenarios would result in tiebreakers being applied to establish the first-place team.

Alberta hosts the 2012 Canada West rugby championship next weekend at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton.

SCORING
Alberta
Chelsea Guthrie (3 tries)
Steff Hoffman (1 try)
Louise Chavarie (1 try)
Paige Ferries (1 try)
Rebecca Fairbairn (1 try)
Teanna Chase (11 points - 4 converts, 1 field goal)

Calgary
Natasha Loucks (1 try)
Brynna Walker (1 try)
Amanda Williams (1 try)
Kelcey Leavitt (1 try)
Kate Scotland (2 converts - 4 points)

-UC-