CALGARY – For the third time in five seasons, the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team is off to the U SPORTS Final 8, hosted this year by Cape Breton in Sydney, N.S.
 
The Dinos will open their national championship experience against AUS (Atlantic University Sport) Champion Saint Mary's. Tip time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MT with the entire tournament being streamed on CBC Sport's digital platforms.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
 
1. HOW WE GOT HERE – The Dinos finished as Canada West silver medallists to claim one of the conference's two automatic bids to this year's national championship. Calgary finished the regular season 13-7 in conference play and earned the No. 3 seed in the CW tournament. They opened their postseason run with an 84-74 quarter-final win over Winnipeg before a 71-62 road win over Regina in the semifinal. The Dinos battled hard in the championship but fell in a defensive battle against Alberta, 76-65.
 
2. U SPORTS HISTORY – This marks the Dinos' 17th appearance at nationals and is the third time they have made the Final 8 in the last five seasons. Calgary has one national title in program history, winning it all back in 1989. The Dinos have also finished as silver medallists three times (1988, 1990, 2000) and as bronze medallists four times (1980, 1984, 1991, 2001).
 
3. MATCHUP HISTORY – With their campus separated by nearly 5,000 kilometres, it makes sense Calgary doesn't have much history with Saint Mary's. The two schools have met several times in exhibition competition and have also met at nationals once before back in 2013. This year's opening-round matchup will be a rematch of the 2013 national bronze-medal contest in Regina, where the Huskies prevailed, 83-73.
 
4. THE REST OF THE FIELD – As the No. 5 seed in this year's tournament, the Dinos' next opponent will come from the 1/8 matchup that features top-seeded Carlton and host Cape Breton. Across the bracket, No. 2 Alberta opens play against No. 7 Acadia, while third-seeded Queen's will square off against sixth-seeded UQAM.
 
5. POSTSEASON HONOURS – Annacy Palmer and Louise Rouse were both recognized for their efforts during the regular season late last week as Canada West announced the results of this year's all-star squads. Palmer was named a third team all-star after leading the team in scoring this season, while Rouse was voted to the All-Rookie Team after a dominant first collegiate season, averaging 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
 
-UC-