CALGARY – Playoff season is upon us as the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team (13-7) gets set to host a Canada West Quarter-Final contest Saturday at 1 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym.
The Dinos will play the winner of Winnipeg (15-5) and Mount Royal (11-9), who square off Friday at 1 p.m. from The Jack.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. HOW WE GOT HERE – The Dinos got off to a strong start, winning five of their first six games in the regular season to quickly establish themselves as a contender this season. Although the record shows just an 8-6 finish to the season, the Dinos navigated through a very difficult schedule and earned the third seed in this year's playoffs thanks to an RPI of .5907.
2. THE OTHER SIDE – Whichever team wins Friday's opening-round contest between Winnipeg and Mount Royal will be a familiar foe for this year's Dinos squad. Calgary just finished up the regular season with a two-game sweep of their crosstown rival, winning 70-60 in the opener before a convincing 87-57 thrashing in the regular season finale. Meanwhile, the Dinos split a home series against the Wesmen back in early January. The Dinos finished game one on a 17-4 run to take down then-fifth-ranked Winnipeg, 76-63, before an 88-84 loss one day later.
3. PLAYOFF HISTORY – Calgary is looking to add to its long list of postseason successes. The Dinos have now qualified for the postseason in 39 of the last 40 seasons, only failing to do so in the 2009-10 season. Calgary has been crowned Canada West Champions seven times and has advanced to the U SPORTS National Championship two times in the last four seasons.
4. CHARITY STRIPE DOMINANCE – The Dinos have been nearly automatic when getting to the free throw line this season. Calgary enters the playoffs converting 79.4 percent (273-344) of their freebies – by far the top mark in Canada West and good for second in all of U SPORTS, trailing only Acadia at 80.8 percent. Individually, five Dinos players have connected on 80 percent or better from the line this season. Amèlie Collin leads the way at 92.3 percent (36-39), while
Mya Proctor (87.9%),
Madison Landry (85.7%),
Annacy Palmer (84.2%) and
Louise Rouse (81.2%) all also have been dominant this season.
5. UP NEXT – Should the Dinos win, they will advance to the single-elimination semifinals on Feb. 24 or 25. This year's Canada West Championship is scheduled for either March 3 or 4, with the U SPORTS National Championships one week later, hosted by Cape Breton in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
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