VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds lost 74-72 to the host Calgary Dinos, falling in the final half minute after battling back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit.
 
Forward Kara Spotton (Fort Collins, Colo.) scored 29 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 on free throws.
 
Forward Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver) grabbed an offensive rebound and made the put-back basket with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give UBC a 72-71 lead.
 
But the Dinos responded with a Vanessa Wesolowski layup 11 seconds later. On the ensuing possession, Calgary got a block, which forced UBC to foul.  Dinos guard Kristie Sheils only made one of her two free throws, which gave the Thunderbirds a chance to tie or win the game. A last-season three-point attempt from guard Diana Lee (North Vancouver) rimmed out, allowing the hosts to escape with the win.
 
UBC falls to 2-6 in Canada West play, while Calgary improves to 7-1.
 
The Thunderbirds entered the fourth quarter down 60-55. But Shiels hit the first bucket of the fourth. Then Claire Colborne converted one of her two foul shots to put the Dinos up by eight points.
 
UBC chipped away at that lead steadily. Rookie guard Jessica Hanson (Vancouver) started a 13-4 run with back-to-back fast break layups. Just over three minutes later, she nailed a three-point shot to get the Thunderbirds to within one at 67-66.
 
With 1:40 to go in regulation, Spotton made a pair of foul shots, her third and fourth of the period, to put UBC ahead 68-67.
 
Shiels replied for Calgary with a layup, which Spotton matched with one of her own with 1:22 remaining, allowing the T-Birds to re-take the lead at 70-69. On the next play, the Dinos missed a layup but got the offensive rebound, which led to a pair of successful foul shots by Colborne, to push Calgary back in front 71-70.
 
The hosts led 41-36 at the half but the Thunderbirds opened the third with eight straight points, six of which came on Parkin triples, to claim 44-41 advantage. Parkin hit a pair of foul shots with 7:11 left in the third to give UBC a four-point lead, its largest of the game. Spotton hit a jump shot at 6:39 to restore the four-point gap. The Dinos, though, used a late 10-3 run to get some breathing room going into the fourth.
 
The first half was tightly contested as neither team led by more than two possessions.
 
Guard Shilpa Khanna (Surrey, B.C.) had all 11 of her points in the first two quarters. Parkin finished with 12 and Hanson had 11.
 
UBC shot 25-of-59 (42.4 per cent) from the field; Calgary was successful on 46.0 per cent of its shots (29-63).
 
Brianna Ghali led the way for the hosts with 17-point, nine-rebound performance.
 
UBC has concluded the 2015 portion of its schedule and will return to action on the weekend of Jan. 8-9, when the Thunderbirds host the Lethbridge Pronghorns at War Memorial Gymnasium.