CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team fell to a 66-50 defeat to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday at Jack Simpson Gymnasium.
The result drops the Dinos record to 0-2 to start the season, while the Huskies move to 2-0 after completing the weekend sweep.
"Saskatchewan is a top-five team in the country, and it was a hard-fought battle," said Dinos head coach Sara Besselink. "I'm proud of the girls, and we're going to use this as a measuring stick."
The Dinos opened the game well, with Kourtney Oss scoring the first five points and Christine Geraldo adding a three-pointer to help build a seven-point lead midway through the first quarter. The Huskies answered with a 12-3 run to close the period and led 21-19 after one. Saskatchewan stretched the margin to 34-29 by halftime.
The game turned in the third quarter, when the Huskies outscored Calgary 21-9 and built a 55-38 lead. Olivia Harm scored 15 points to lead Saskatchewan, while Logan Reider added 14 and Ryan Deutscher and Maya Flindall each had 13.
The Dinos found some positives in the final quarter, outscoring the Huskies 12-11. Megan Weisgerber capped the scoring with a three-pointer with 19 seconds left. Calgary finished 7-of-15 from three-point range, or 47 percent. Oss led the Dinos with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Lilia Skumatova added 13 points while going a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Geraldo scored seven points and Milica Gajic handed out four assists.
Besselink was also pleased with her team's play at the defensive end. "Our defence has been solid in the opening games, we just need to keep finding creative ways to score," she said.
The Dinos will return to action at Jack Simpson Gym on Friday, Nov. 6 when they host the Mount Royal University Cougars. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m, tickets are available at GoDinos.com/Tickets.
Saskatchewan will host the Manitoba Bisons on Friday, Nov. 6.
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