VANCOUVER – For the first time since 2001, the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team are Canada West Champions!

The Dinos will be bringing the Valerie Gersberger Trophy back to campus for the ninth time in program history after a 63-57 win over UBC in the Canada West Final Saturday afternoon from UBC's War Memorial Gym.

After a grind-it-out first half that saw UBC hold a narrow 30-28 lead, Calgary started to find some rhythm in the third before taking over the final frame with the Dinos' defence once again leading the way to the win.

"This is an incredibly special group," first-year Dinos head coach Sarah Besselink said about her championship squad. "I think it was really that flip between (Saskatchewan) and Alberta. We've just been stacking wins since then, relying on our defence and our pressure. The whole team is just buying in."

Game MVP Pollyanna Storie led the way for the Dinos with 16 points. Kourtney Oss finished with 13 points on 4-7 shooting to go with a game-high eight boards, two blocks on one steal.

Christine Geraldo and Milica Gajic each added nine points, with Geraldo hauling in a career-high seven boards before blocking the game's final shot.

Second-year forward Emma Yarwood added six points and seven rebounds as she was a force in the post all afternoon.

Canada West Defensive Player of the Year Amélie Collin continued to do what she does best in frustrating the opposition, adding four more steals to her career total to go with four points, four assists, three rebounds and a block.

First Team CW All-Star Olivia Weekes led the way for the Thunderbirds with 19 points on 8-17 shooting to go with seven boards and two blocks. Sara Toneguzzi also had a big night for the T-Birds, finishing with a season-high 14 points.

The first half saw both teams finding their footing in this championship battle. A low-scoring affair that saw almost as many combined made free throws (16) as field goals (20), the 'Birds held a 30-28 lead after the first two quarters of play.

While the scoreboard stayed tight in the third, things seemed to click for Calgary early in the second half, coming up with a number of key defensive stops while shots finally started to fall for the visitors as the momentum seemed to shift in the Dinos favour.

A jumper by Toneguzzi to start the fourth gave UBC a 44-42 lead in what proved to be the last lead of the night for the T-Birds. A bucket from Gajic on the Dinos' next possession sparked an 11-2 run that saw Calgary take a 53-46 lead with 4:05 to play and never look back. 

The Dinos went 9-12 from the free throw line in the final frame to ice the game away and clinch the Canada West banner.

"We knew that we were going to have to box out and match their hard work," Besselink said. "One of the keys was really limiting their offensive rebounds especially in the fourth quarter, really slowing it down and executing on offence. We talked a lot at halftime about getting clean touches and going to the rim and we shot a lot more free throws in the second half which was great, we also got a lot of stops in the second half."

This marks the ninth conference title for the Dinos women's basketball program, also bringing home the trophy in 2001, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1984, 1979 and 1966 - celebrating that 1966 team just last month as part of the latest class inducted into the Dinos Hall of Fame.

Both Calgary and UBC will now await the seedings of the U SPORTS Championships, which will be announced Sunday afternoon. This year's national tournament will be hosted by Laval in Quebec City, March 5-8.

"It's going to be very interesting to see what the seeding is going to look like," added Besselink in reference to next week's national championship. "There are no easy games at nationals and ultimately winning that first one will be most important."

-UC-