Dinos down Pandas in decisive fashion
It did not take long for the University of Calgary Dinos women’s basketball team to shake off the holiday cobwebs as they cruised to a convincing 81-41 win over the Alberta Pandas Thursday night at Jack Simpson Gym.
The Dinos led almost the entire way, building an early advantage by capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes. Alberta was guilty of 30 turnovers, while Calgary was credited with 19 steals.
Trailing by 11 after the first quarter, things went from bad to worse for the Pandas as they struggled to score, mustering only nine points in the second and third quarters.
“As much as the scoreboard looks like it was not a battle, it really was. Alberta did not give up,” said Dinos head coach Damian Jennings. “They are a really wellcoached team and we had to play well tonight to win.”
With the win, Calgary improved their record to 8-3, while the Pandas drop to 5-6 with their first road loss in Canada West play.
Meanwhile, in the men’s game, the Alberta Golden Bears improved to 11-1 with a 92-79 victory over their Calgary counterparts. Brody Clarke led the way with 21 points for the Bears, who led 46-40 at the half, while Austin Waddoups added 15. Mambi Diawara, Jhony Verrone and Andrew Milner each had 17 points in a losing cause for the Dinos, who are now 9-2.
In the women’s game, the Dinos ran with every opportunity the Pandas gave them, collecting seven steals en route to a 26-15 lead in the opening quarter.
Third-year guard Vanessa Wild helped keep the Pandas within striking distance with a pair of three-pointers in the quarter. The Pandas would do the majority of their damage from distance, scoring nearly half their points on the evening from beyond the arc.
The Alberta turnovers began to pile up in the second quarter as Calgary built a larger gap, holding the Pandas to only three points.
Calgary was extremely disciplined during the first half, allowing Alberta only two free throw attempts as they took a 40-18 lead.
“What we have been guilty of in the past is fouling every other play and losing some offensive glass; I don’t think we did that tonight,” Jennings said. “It gave us a chance to turn things around and create flow at the offensive end.”
Another challenging shooting quarter saw Alberta get outscored 12-6 in the third. With the lead up to 28, the play opened up in the final stanza where both teams found their scoring touch for a combined 36 points.
Brianna Ghali and Erin McIntosh scored 23 and 21 points respectively to lead the Dinos. Ghali also posted seven rebounds, second only to Shannon Hatch’s eight. The Pandas got 13 points from Emma Kary.
The home-and-home set will resume Saturday in Edmonton.
UNIVERSITY HOCKEY
The University of Calgary Dinos will have a pair of fresh faces in the lineup this weekend as they return to Canada West men’s hockey action at home against the UBC Thunderbirds.
After beginning the season with the ECHL’s Jacksonville IceMen, forwards Tyler Coulter and Ryan Graham have joined the Dinos.
Coulter amassed 76 goals and 176 points in four years in the Western Hockey League.
Dinos goaltender Jordan Papirny played with Coulter on the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings.
“I played with Tyler for threeand-a-half years (in Brandon),” Papirny said. “He’s a big power forward — he takes up a lot of space and is very good at putting the puck in the net.”
Graham, meanwhile, notched 72 goals and 140 points over five full seasons in the WHL.
Graham played the majority of his junior career with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades before playing his final campaign with the Swift Current Broncos.
This weekend’s games will be the first for the Dinos since they forfeited games played on Oct. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21 after self-disclosing an ineligible player. Two of those games were against the Thunderbirds, and the forfeit wins boosted UBC into fourth place, now three points ahead of the Dinos.
The Dinos and Thunderbirds square off Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.) at Father David Bauer Arena.
HITMEN TRADE GRISHAKOV
The Calgary Hitmen have acquired a third-round pick from the Victoria Royals in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft in exchange for 18-year-old forward Andrei Grishakov.
“This trade creates more opportunity for our younger players to gain valuable ice time in their development,” said Hitmen general manager Jeff Chynoweth.
“We would like to thank Andrei for his time in Calgary and wish him success moving forward with the Royals.”
Grishakov was selected by the Hitmen in the second round, 106th overall, in the 2017 CHL Import Draft. The product of Chelyabinsk, Russia, tallied 61 points, including 22 goals, in 107 games during parts of two seasons with the Hitmen.
The Hitmen return to action Friday against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The contest, presented by Bumper to Bumper, begins at 7 p.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently-worn socks, either in pairs or as singles, for Toasty Toes in support of the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre and Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter. Sock donations will be accepted on the concourse behind Section 211.
It is then off to Lethbridge for the Hitmen on Saturday before returning home Sunday to face the Kelowna Rockets. The 4 p.m. start at the Saddledome is another Sunday Fun Day presented by Pocky. There will be face painters, concourse activities, lots of giveaways and a post-game family skate that is free with a game ticket. Sunday Funday contests also feature a specially priced $8.99 ticket (plus applicable fees) for kids 12-andunder.