CALGARY – After posting their best regular season winning percentage since 1990 – when the program was on a record-setting 69-game win streak and finished conference play at 20-0 – the Dinos women's basketball team captured the Prairie Division pennant and will host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. for both Game 1 and Game 2. Should there be a third game needed to decide the winner of the series; it will be played on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
 
First-year head coach Damian Jennings led the Dinos to a 19-3 record and their first home playoff series since 2008, and he now faces the challenge of an intriguing first-round match-up with the WolfPack.
 
Thompson Rivers was just one of three teams to defeat the Dinos in conference play, winning 69-60 in Kamloops on Jan. 12 – the back end of a swing trip through the Okanagan for the Dinos.
 
In that game, Thompson Rivers shot nearly 43 per cent while the Dinos managed just 32 per cent from the field. The 60-point effort was the lowest offensive output on the season for Calgary, who averaged 74.2 points per game – the second-best total in the conference.
 
The first-ever postseason meeting between the teams will feature a battle down low between a pair of fifth-year forwards in Thompson Rivers Diane Schuetze and Calgary's Jessica Franz.
 
Veteran Schuetze is a major factor in the WolfPack's success. She is currently third on the scoring list, averaging 17.8 points per game and has a total of 391 on the season. Futhermore, the six-foot-five forward comes in at No. 1 in rebounding, averaging 11.3 a game, and has grabbed a conference-high 248 rebounds in the regular season. Schuetze also ranks third overall in blocked shots with 34 over 22 games.
 
For the Dinos, Franz finished off the regular season seventh on the scoring list, good for an average of 16 points a game. She scored a total of 353 points for Calgary in her final year of eligibility and is always a threat when she's on the court. Other Dinos to watch for include Tamara Jarrett who averages three steals per game, Alex Cole who has 36 blocks on the season, good for second in Canada West and point guard Megan Schaufele.
 
Last weekend, the Dinos swept the Lethbridge Pronghorns to secure first place in the Prairie Division with 74-66 and 76-62 wins.
 
For the WolfPack, they ended their regular season with losses to Fraser Valley and UBC Okanagan.
 
The winner will advance to the Canada West Final Four and have a solid chance at qualifying for the CIS Final 8 in Regina. Depending on the results in other series across the conference this weekend, a Calgary win could have the Dinos hosting the conference championship tournament March 1-2.