VANCOUVER - A 25-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters was the difference for the Calgary Dinos as they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 76-59 on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym. The Dinos open their Canada West season 2-0 after completing the weekend sweep, while the T-Birds fall to 2-2.
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It was the switch to a zone defense, that was crucial for the Dinos, as they disrupted the T-Birds offense forcing turnovers and shot clock violations. The visitors closed out the third quarter on a 13-0 run, taking a 53-46 lead into the final frame. From there, the Dinos continued their defensive stronghold, opening the final quarter on a 12-0 run.
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"The zone gave us a chance to deny the outlets a little more and play up in the next row of that in the full court," said Dinos head coach Damian Jennings.
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Dinos forward Liene Stalidzane led all scorers with 22 points while Michaela Nieuwenhuizen and Reyna Crawford also chipped in with ten points each. For the 'Birds it was
Keylyn Filewich pouring in a team high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Gabrielle Laguerta and
Hailey Counsell added 11 points each for the hosts.
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The opening quarter was a back-and-forth one and it was a 4-0 Dinos run in the final two minutes of the frame that propelled them to a 17-14 lead. Setting the early tone for the Dinos was Sascha Lichtenwald who had seven points in the opening frame.
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The second quarter was much of the same for both teams, as UBC was able to take a lead with just over 10 seconds remaining in the half thanks to a three-pointer from Stalidzane just before the horn sounded, to even the score 35-35 at the break.
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To start the second half the T-Birds went on an 11-5 run thanks in part to strong defensive play forcing a handful of Dinos turnovers. Calgary, however responded in proving why they are ranked fourth in the country. Switching to a zone defense which inturn caused the T-Birds fits on the offensive end.
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The 'Birds went on another run in the fourth, but it was a little-to-late as they couldn't mount the comeback.
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"UBC, at their place, that's two impressive wins for us and we hold great respect for them," added Jennings regarding his squads successful weekend on the west coast.
Meanwhile UBC head coach
Deb Huband gave credit to the visiting U SPORTS No. 4 ranked Dinos and reflected on some areas she wants her squad to clean up to this point in the young season.
"The Dinos are a deep, confident team and they've been playing well," said Huband. "They've been playing together for a long time and I think they executed their game plan extremely well. We struggled with their defensive intensity and pressure, also their quickness offensively. We have some work to do to improve in some areas that we need to be a more multidimensional team and to have a stronger performance against teams with different styles of play, they have a very unique style of play and you know this weekend they were the much better team."
The T-Birds travel to Prince Geroge next weekend to take on the UNBC Timberwolves while the Dinos host Brandon University.
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