CALGARY – It's basketball season once again, and the University of Calgary Dinos return to the friendly confines of the Jack Simpson Gym this weekend for their home openers. 

The Dinos women's and men's teams host the University of Winnipeg Wesmen this weekend, with both squads looking to rebound from a rough start to the season last week in their conference-opening Pacific road trip. Tip-off goes at 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men on both Friday and Saturday nights. Please note that, due to the Hardy Cup football game Saturday afternoon, the basketball contests that evening have been moved one hour later.

In addition, the Dinos will be supporting the United Way campaign on Nov. 8 when 50 per cent of all ticket sales will go to supporting United Way, Calgary and Area. All ticket purchases are automatically entered into a draw for a single, annual All Access Membership to the university's recreation facilities. 

Both Dinos teams come into the weekend with 0-2 records after dropping all four games against Trinity Western and Fraser Valley last weekend, and they'll both look to crack the win column on their home floor.

The young Dinos women's team struggled to find their offensive rhythm last week, falling 66-58 and then 60-36 against the Spartans and Cascades, respectively. Tamara Jarrett was the team's leader in points both nights (14), but as a team the Dinos shot just 26.7 per cent from the field over the weekend as they continue to gain experience in the always-tough Canada West conference. Jarrett and Jessica Thielen, who picked up 22 rebounds last weekend, will provide the veteran leadership for the Dinos under second-year head coach Damian Jennings, the reigning conference coach of the year.

The Dinos face off against a Wesmen squad that won both ends of its homestand last week with a 63-45 win over Mount Royal and a 75-49 victory over UNBC. Led by Megan Noonan (17.5 points per game) and Stephanie Kleysen (12), the Wesmen cruised to comfortable victories over the conference newcomers last week. Winnipeg finished 7-15 and out of the playoffs last season.

Calgary took both games against the Wesmen last year, on the road, by scores of 65-55 and 74-53.

On the men's side, the Dinos fell behind early to Trinity Western last Friday night before losing 87-80. A highlight for the Dinos came in the final seconds of the second quarter, where Josh Turner made a desperation toss at the buzzer from his own three-point line – and found the hoop, bringing the Dinos within seven at the break. But a 21-point effort by Turner along with 23 from Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson weren't enough as the rest of the team combined for just 36 points in the seven-point loss.

A night later, it was a fourth-quarter collapse that cost the Dinos. Calgary entered the final period with a six-point lead at 44-38, then proceeded to give up 33 points in the final frame while scoring only 12 to fall 71-56. Ogungbemi-Jackson again led the Dinos with 19 points on the night, but again there wasn't much support offensively as Calgary fell to 0-2.

Like their female counterparts, the Winnipeg men cruised to a pair of relatively easy wins over Mount Royal (70-55) and UNBC (83-62) last weekend to open conference play. Steven Wesley proved to be the top Winnipeg player on the first weekend of the season, leading the Wesmen in points (42) and rebounds (17) both nights as the squad shot an impressive 46 per cent from the field over the weekend.

The Dinos head on the road to face the Manitoba Bisons next weekend in Winnipeg before returning to the Jack for two weekends to wrap up the fall semester. Calgary will host Thompson Rivers (Nov. 22) and UBC Okanagan (Nov. 23), followed a week later with a Thursday-Friday series against the Brandon Bobcats Nov. 28-29.

-UC-