CALGARY – Jenna Harpe continued to have the hot hand during the Panda's playoff run, leading the University of Alberta women's basketball team to their first Canada West Championship in program history Saturday with a 76-65 win over the University of Calgary Dinos inside the Jack Simpson Gym.

Harpe finished with a game-high 20 points one game after pouring in a season-high 22 in the upset win at Saskatchewan last weekend. 

A one-point game midway through the third, the Pandas went on a 10-0 run over a four-minute span to go ahead 52-41 early in the fourth, holding the Dinos off down the stretch to claim their first-ever Valerie Girsberger Trophy.

Canada West First Team All-Star Emmy Kary also scored in double figures on the afternoon with 13 points, while Second Team All-Star Claire Signatovich was limited to just seven points but hauled in 20 rebounds – tying her career high.

For the Dinos, MacKenzie Trpcic led the way with 12 points, while Annacy Palmer had 11 on an uncharacteristically cold shooting performance by Calgary that saw them finish connecting on just 30.9% (21-68) for the game.

"Although we had the jitters in the first half, I thought we solved that in the third," Calgary head coach Damian Jennings said. "It was two good teams going at it, and at the end of the day, I don't think we made the shots and moments that were clinical to momentum and (Alberta) did. It became a bucket game and it just got away from us."

Alberta started the game strong, going ahead 12-4 early after a jumper by Rylee Semeniuk. The game settled from there until halftime, where the Pandas held a 35-32 edge.

Both squads came out seemingly more poised after the break. Reece Hall drilled a triple halfway through the third to give Alberta a 42-38 lead, only to see Palmer respond right back for Calgary with a triple of her own to keep it a one-point game. But the Dinos weren't able to score again until a three by Amalie Collin at the 7:14 mark of the fourth to snap Alberta's 10-0 run.

The two teams continued to battle down the stretch. Calgary finally started to heat up – connecting on four of their six triples in the fourth quarter. But every time the Dinos tried to make a run, the Pandas had an answer on seemingly every ensuing possession to keep Calgary at arm's length until the final buzzer sounded.

Both Alberta and Calgary will now await the seedings of the U SPORTS Championships, which will be announced Sunday evening. This year's national tournament will be hosted by Cape Breton in Sydney, N.S. March 9-12.

"It's a little funny because right now it seems doom and gloom, but it shouldn't be," Jennings said. "We want to be in this game and we want to be going to nationals and it's a quick turnaround. This is what I'll talk to the players about – it's a get better, not bitter moment and we've put ourselves in a great position either way; here we are with a silver medal."

-UC-