REGINA – The University of Calgary Dinos enter the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 in do-or-die territory as the tournament opens Thursday – but they faced the same situation just last week.

On the road at Trinity Western, the story of the year in Canada West women's basketball, Calgary needed a win in the Canada West bronze medal game just to get to the national tournament. With that 65-63 win in tow, the Dinos turn their attention to the next hurdle, the top-seeded Carleton Ravens in the national quarter-final.

It's the Dinos' first trip to the national tournament since 2013. That was Damian Jennings' first season at the helm of the program. The Final 8 was in Regina that year, and the Dinos even played (and beat) Carleton in the first round.

"It is an interesting coincidence that it is Regina again," said Jennings. "And for me on a personal note in my sixth season – with a number of players in their final years that were part of my first recruitment class."

Among those players is Brianna Ghali, the Canada West Sylvia Sweeney Award winner for excellence in academics, basketball, and community service. Ghali will wrap up her varsity career on the biggest stage of all this weekend.

"We don't want to 'play up' to teams if they appear to be better than us on paper," said Ghali, looking ahead to the challenge of undefeated Carleton. "We know coming into games like this that we need to bring our best or it is not going to be good. It comes down to us knowing what we need to bring and how to bring it. It is just a decision we all have to make.

"If we stick to what we have been doing all year, especially in the second half, and play together we should have a strong performance."

"We have that competitive drive, we instill that in our culture since we meet at the beginning of the off-season," said Jennings. "We try not to put too much weight on one game, I think that is a recipe for disaster most of the time, people know what is at stake. The game is still 40 minutes, it is a 90-feet floor, and we need to beat Carleton and outperform them."

The national quarter-final tips off at the University of Regina's Centre for Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Thursday at noon MT (1 p.m. local). USPORTS.live will have streaming coverage.

DETAILS
U Sports Final 8
Date: Thursday, March 8
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Venue: CKHS, Regina, Sask.

HEADLINES

• The last time the Dinos were in the U Sport Final 8 they matched up against Carleton again in Regina, resulting in a Calgary 59-51 win.
• Erin McIntosh and Brianna Ghali put matters into their own hands in the third place game, dropping a combined 35 points to put their team alongside the other elite teams competing for a national championship.

CALGARY DINOS (15-5)

• Defense has been the strongest point of the Dinos game during the 2018 season, ranking first in the Canada West in points per game allowed, opponents field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. 
• Seniors Brianna Ghali and Shannon Hatch are going to be the players watch for Calgary with Ghali having an impressive 25.1 points per 40 minutes average and Hatch controlling the defensive game, being credited with 74 defensive boards.

CARLETON RAVENS (23-0)

• Completed their undefeated season winning the Critelli Cup OUA championship over McMaster.
• Team leader Heather Lindsay has been unbelievable from the field and on the boards, finishing with a 54.7 shooting percentage from the field and picking up a total 231 rebounds, good enough for first and fourth respectively.
• Both sides of the Ravens' game have been almost flawless, finishing atop the OUA in points per game and points allowed per game.

-UC-