CALGARY – A decisive run down the stretch powered the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team to a 76-63 win over the Winnipeg Wesmen in a battle atop the Canada West standings Friday night from the Jack Simpson Gym.

With the score tied at 59-59 with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth, Calgary cranked up the defensive pressure and finished the game on a 17-4 run to improve to 9-2 on the year and take over sole possession of second place in the league standings.

The loss is just the second of the year for Winnipeg as they move to 7-2 on the year, snapping a four-game win streak.

Kyanna Giles led all players with 20 points in Friday's opener to go with nine rebounds, four assists and a steal.
 
Raizel Guinto chipped in with 15 points and Robyn Boulanger added another 12 for the Wesmen.

Pollyanna Storie came off the bench to lead the way for the Dinos with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a balanced attack. Madison Landry (14), Bobbi Jo Colburn (12) and Annacy Palmer (10) all also scored in double figures, while Amélie Collin added seven points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

The two CW heavyweights traded blows all night in the back-and-forth affair.

The difference came down the stretch. Tied at 59-all, Elina Siceva's nice post move gave the Dinos a 61-59 edge with 5:15 left to play. Colburn – playing in her first home game in nearly three years – then drilled a triple from the wing to make it 65-61.

Calgary's defence then completely clamped down, forcing turnovers and contesting seemingly every shot down the stretch.

With 2:31 left in the game, Collin grabbed a defensive rebound and was off to the races, using a give-and-go with Storie for the transition layup, forcing a Winnipeg timeout.

The Dinos made another defensive stand out of the timeout before Collin drilled a three on the ensuing possession for their biggest lead of the game to all but wrap things up.

"Our defence was big for us today," Colburn said. "It definitely helped that we were making a lot of shots, as well, but that all starts from our 'D' and our conversions.

"We're just taking it as another win for us, because we have big statements to make towards the whole country. It was obviously a big win, and we're not taking them (Winnipeg) for granted, at all. We're just going forward one game at a time and hopefully we can get another win tomorrow."

Saturday's rematch is scheduled to tipoff, once again, at 6 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-