CALGARY – In a close-fought battle, the University of Dinos pulled through with a 69-61 victory against the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.
The Dinos (5-0) maintain their winning streak while the Spartans fall to 1-4.
Both teams saw a slow start in the first quarter, with the Dinos coming out on top 14-9 after an 8-3 run in the last half. Both teams were matched for 10 rebounds, but the Dinos defence had the edge with six steals and nine forced turnovers. In the second quarter, the Spartans closed the gap with 18 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. A 7-2 run in the last two minutes let the Spartans lead in points (17-15), but the Dinos still ended the first half on top with 29-26.
"It was a very poor performance from us from the start, which is a real shame because we've had a really good week of practices," commented head coach
Damian Jennings. "Trinity are a good basketball program, they're coached very well, and we didn't play very well."
The Dinos widened the margin in the third quarter with an impressive 61.1 field goal percentage and a 12-3 run late in the quarter. The Spartans were outshot 16-4 in the paint. The Spartans battled closely in the last quarter, managing to outscore the Dinos 19-16 in total points, thanks to 6 points each from Nicole Fransson and Kianna Wiens. Despite the edge in points, three-pointers from
Erin McIntosh and
Sascha Lichtenwald sealed the deal for the Dinos.
Leading CW scorer and reigning rookie of the year Nicole Fransson and third-year guard Kianna Wiens led the Spartans tonight with 16 points each, with Fransson hauling down an impressive 17 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. For Calgary,
Sascha Lichtenwald led with 17 points, while
Erin McIntosh,
Liene Stalidzane, and
Michaela Nieuwenhuizen scooped up 12 points each.
"Fortunately, we got away with the W," said Jennings. "I would like us to start (tomorrow) on the front foot and be prepared to execute what we've done all week."
The Dinos and Spartans will clash again on Saturday to finish the series. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. MT at the Jack Simpson Gym.
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