SASKATOON – In the second battle in as many nights between the two top-ranked teams in the nation it was the No. 2 Calgary Dinos turn to take the victory as they took down the No. 1 Saskatchewan Huskies by a score of 76-71 inside the PAC on Saturday night.
After jumping out to an early lead the Dinos found an answer every time Saskatchewan began to push their way back into the game, eventually grinding out the victory and handing the Huskies their first loss of the 2019-20 season.
Bobbi Jo-Colburn led all scorers with 21 points in the game, going 7-13 from the floor.
Liene Stalidzane and
Erin McIntosh both added 14 points for the visitors with McIntosh also pulling down ten rebounds for the double-double.
Kyla Shand was a force down low for the Huskies, finishing the game with 20 points. Sabine Dukate and Summer Masikewich added 19 and 17 respectively.
It was an offensive showcase in the first quarter with both teams running-and-gunning in a back-and-forth affair. A pair of three-pointers from
Clara Tapia Palacio allowed the Dinos to take 22-19 lead after one quarter.
Both defences stepped up in the second quarter, but it was the Dinos who were more effective. The visitors limited the Huskies to just eight points while forcing seven turnovers, widening their advantage to eight points at the half.
The Huskies started the third quarter on a 16-5 run, thanks in large part to 11 points from Shand. With Saskatchewan holding a five-point lead at 45-40, the Dinos were able to find another gear.
Back-to-back threes from Colburn and Stalidzane allowed the visitors to re-take the lead entering the fourth and five-straight points to start the fourth put them back in control with a 56-48 advantage after a 16-3 swing of their own.
Saskatchewan fought back down the stretch and Dukate cut the lead to as few as three after a clutch three-pointer with 18 seconds left on the clock but Colburn came up clutch at the charity stripe to put the game out of reach.
It was an impressive bounce-back performance for the DInos, who suffered their first defeat of the season 66-38 in Friday night's series opener.
"I'm extremely proud of our group," said Dinos head coach
Damian Jennings. "We had a tough week, and the greatest disappointment yesterday wasn't the margin but the lack of fight. That fight was excellent today and we really took it too them, we shot and rebounded well.
"The players all responded. I'm really impressed with the engagement and fight in our group, and long may it continue."
Both of these teams will be back in action next weekend.
Saskatchewan will remain at home for their final regular season games when they take on the UBC Okanagan Heat. Calgary meanwhile will play a home-and-home set with the Alberta Pandas with Edmonton playing host to the opener before the return leg in Calgary on Saturday night.
All of that action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.
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