BOX SCORE REGINA – The University of Calgary Dinos' playoff hopes will come down to the final weekend of the season after they dropped a 76-43 decision to the Regina Cougars Saturday night in Canada West women's basketball action at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health, and Sport.

Sitting at 11-9 on the season, the Dinos will need to sweep their series with Lethbridge next week to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in the Prairie Division. Calgary holds the tiebreaker over Winnipeg, which fell 74-57 to Saskatchewan Saturday night and is also sitting with an 11-9 mark.

The Cougars reeled off 12 consecutive points early in the second quarter to push a seven-point advantage to a big 19-point lead. Calgary got the lead down to nine with a Kristie Sheils three-pointer early in the third quarter, but that would be the last time the Dinos would be within double digits. The Cougars responded to Sheils' triple with a 15-0 run and never looked back.
 
Nicole Clarke scored a game-high 18 points for the Cougars, marking the 11th time in the U of R's 20 conference games this season that the fifth-year guard has at least tied for the team lead in scoring. Clarke also led all players with nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double for the Cougars, who improve to 18-2 with the victory.
 
Alyssia Kajati was 7-for-10 from the field and scored 16 points, while Megan Chamberlin hit five of her six field goals and ended up with 10 points. The Cougars ended up with a 51-38 rebounding advantage and shot 50% in the win.
 
Calgary was led by 10 points by both Tamara Jarrett and Aimee Wilson. Jarrett added a team-high eight rebounds and also led the Dinos with four assists. The Dinos will now prepare for a home-and-home with Lethbridge to close out the Canada West schedule and will need at least one Winnipeg loss in the Wesmen's final three games of the season – including Saturday's home matchup against Saskatchewan – to put them in a playoff spot.
 
The Cougars remain tied with Alberta (18-2) for top spot in the Prairie Division. The Pandas hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the U of R, so the Cougars will need at least one Saskatchewan win over Alberta next weekend to claim the division title even if the U of R finishes the conference schedule with a pair of home wins over Brandon.
 
The Dinos embark on a Wednesday-Thursday home-and-home series with the Lethbridge Pronghorns to wrap up the regular season. Action gets underway Wednesday night in Lethbridge, with the final game of the season set for Thursday, Feb. 13 in the Jack Simpson Gym. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m. on Enterprise Seniors' Night, when the Dinos will honour fifth-year senior Jarrett in a special post-game ceremony.

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