CALGARY – Pollyanna Storie and Amélie Collin each had a game-high 18 points to lead the University of Calgary Dinos women's basketball team to a dominant 71-41 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday night from the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

Not only did the win hold importance for the infamous cross-town rivalry, but the team celebrated their fifth-year graduates – Collin, Storie, and Sydney Milum – in a Senior Night, as it was the final home game of the regular season.

For Storie, her time as a Dino is something that will stay with her forever.

"I've changed as a person over my five years," she said. "I think that happens to most people. They're crucial years – I've become an adult and I've been taught so many valuable life lessons that have nothing to do with basketball – and that's all that I can ask for in a program.

"Over the years, the different people I've come across are just amazing individuals that have taught me so much and I've learned from them all in different ways."

As their head coach, Sarah Besselink had nothing but good things to say about her graduating players.

"They're all fantastic people," Besselink said. "As players and leaders, they've really taken on that challenge this year. Polly is really like our high IQ leader, Amélie is our workhorse and Syd is really our vocal leader and keeps everybody connected, so I'm really proud of them."

Similar to Friday night, the game started strong for the Dinos. A couple of consecutive baskets from Storie gave Calgary an early 9-0 run, but was quickly matched by Mount Royal to tie it 9-9.

However, it didn't last long until Calgary pulled ahead. An 11-0 run had the Dinos taking a comfortable 20-9 lead after the first quarter, which they confidently held throughout the remainder of the game. 

Although the Dinos kept it rolling into the second quarter, pulling ahead 35-14, the Cougars' defence picked up down the first-half stretch limiting the Dinos to a 41-21 lead at thee break.

Still, the defensive play by Mount Royal didn't phase Calgary when Storie and Kourtney Oss went to work immediately in the third quarter, collectively tallying 10 of the 12 points in the first half for the Dinos to bring them up 53-23.

It wasn't long until the Cougars found a little bit of momentum, putting up a 12-3 run to end the third quarter 56-35.

But it just wasn't enough to fend off the Dinos as they did what they do best, finalizing the 71-41 final score in the last quarter, closing out the regular season on a high note.

One night after breaking the Canada West record for career steals, Collin re-set the conference record for steals in a single season as her nine steals in this one pushed her to 98 for the season, surpassing Lisa Koop's previous mark of 94 set back in the 1995-96 season at Victoria. Collin's final conference record now stands at 322 following the impressive weekend sweep of the Cougars.

As they move forward, the Dinos will travel to Langley, B.C. to compete in the Canada West play-in game to kick off their postseason series.

"You have to treat it like another game," Storie said. "You can't overestimate or underestimate anyone. At the end of the day, you have to win and we have to do that for Friday night.

"You can't think ahead – you can't think about who your next opponent is – it has to be who the Friday game is and we're excited. Playoff basketball is always more stressful, so it's going to be an exciting time and obviously we want to win."

Added Besselink,
"It's going to be interesting. In the first round, we'll see a team that we've already played from first semester. It's always really hard to beat a team three times. We're not looking past anybody, so looking to see where they're at and I know that we've improved from first semester, as well. Hopefully we can get the job done and see where that leaves us."

-UC-