BOX SCORE CALGARY – It was a rough night for top seeds in CIS women's basketball Friday night – and the unranked University of Calgary Dinos made a statement with a 79-69 overtime victory over the No. 1-ranked University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Led by a 23-point effort from senior Jessica Franz and a 15-point, 10-rebound, six-steal double-double by Tamara Jarrett, the Dinos regrouped after giving up the lead late and blasted the Cascaded 18-8 in the extra period to improve to 11-2 on the season.

After Kayli Sartori had tied the game with a pair of free throws in the final stages of the fourth quarter – completing a seven-point comeback for the Cascades in the final five minutes as they held the Dinos scoreless over that stretch – Calgary found its offensive touch again in overtime, taking the lead for good just over a minute into the abbreviated frame. With the Cascades in foul trouble and the Dinos with fouls to give, Calgary was able to slowly wear down the top-ranked UFV squad and emerged with the 10-point victory.

Calgary's 18-point overtime score outdid three of the four regulation quarters offensively, eclipsed only by a 23-point third quarter that brought the Dinos back from a five-point halftime deficit.

“I'm really pleased with the performance, one that we've been aspiring to and one we've seen in practice,” said first-year Dinos head coach Damian Jennings. “To shut down the machine that UFV has had so far, holding them to just 69 points in five periods, I'm particularly pleased with that.

“Our preparation and our conditioning is still paying off – it did in Victoria when we were 21 points down, and it did tonight going into an overtime where we just wanted to get the job done.”

Six players carried the lion's share of the load for the Dinos, all recording more than 24 minutes on the court – led by Jarrett's 41-minute effort.

Sartori's 19 points led the way for the Cascades, who dropped just their second game of the season after losing 59-55 at Regina on Dec. 1. Sarah Wierks added 16 points and 15 rebounds to pace her side, while Aieisha Luyken was held to nine points and seven rebounds.

Fifth-year point guard Megan Schaufele continued her solid play for the Dinos Friday night, picking up 19 points and hitting three clutch free throws in overtime to pad Calgary's lead. Kristie Sheils scored eight off the bench for Calgary to follow up the Franz-Jarrett-Schaufele trio.

Fraser Valley (11-2) joins No. 2 Regina (11-2) on the upset pile Friday after the Cougars dropped a 61-58 decision to Victoria on the Island earlier Friday. The Cascades head south to face Lethbridge Saturday night.

The Dinos, meanwhile, will look to maintain their focus as they take on the Trinity Western Spartans (3-10) Saturday night, with tip-off at 5 p.m. MT in the Jack. And Jennings doesn't expect a complacent squad in that one.

“Canada West is a tough conference, and we have a tough game tomorrow,” said Jennings. “They're no pushover, they're scrappy, and most of my speech tonight was about tomorrow following up with our tenacity and our defensive performance.”

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