LANGLEY, B.C. – For the first time since 2013, the University of Calgary Dinos are headed to the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 after a nail-biting 65-63 win over the Trinity Western University Spartans in the Canada West bronze medal game Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.
Calgary heads to Regina for next week's national championship after clinching the final Canada West berth in the tournament. Action gets underway with quarter-finals Thursday.
Erin McIntosh led the way for the Dinos with 20 points, while Brianna Ghali added 15 and Bobbi-Jo Colburn chipped in 12.
Including the playoffs, TWU only lost two games all year on home court, with both coming against Calgary. The Spartans finished the year 12-2 at the LEC. Coming off their loss against Saskatchewan last weekend in Game 3 of the Canada West semifinals, the Spartans lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Calgary got off to a quick start, opening a 13-4 lead only to see TWU respond with a 11-0 run to even the score. The Spartans then took their first lead of the game, 16-15, on a Brown 3-pointer.
Carrying their momentum into the second quarter, the Spartans opened the frame with a 12-2 run that put the home side ahead 28-17. The run capped an 11-minute span in which TWU outscored the Dinos 24-4. Calgary quickly responded, turning the tides with a high-pressure defence, which sparked a 12-1 run. A late basket from TWU's Ratzlaff sent the Spartans into the locker room with a 31-29 lead.
Wiens and Ratzlaff had eight points apiece in the first half for the Spartans, while Calgary's McIntosh had seven points to lead the visitors.
The Spartans quickly opened a five-point gap in the third quarter, after a Ratzlaff knocked down a jumper to make it 43-38. But Calgary closed the gap to a single point by the end of the quarter, with TWU hanging on to a 46-45 lead. Brown had 11 points in the quarter for the Spartans. McIntosh and Colburn had four points each in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was all Calgary in the early stages, with the Dinos taking advantage of timely turnovers to grab the lead before pushing its advantage to 61-49 with 4:48 left in the fourth quarter. A lay-up from Brown launched a late surge from the Spartans, but it proved too little too late in the end, with the Dinos earning a dramatic win. TWU closed the cap to three points, at 63-60, but a lay-up from Ghali off a Spartans turnover proved to be the winning basket.
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