Women vivisect Vikes

By Lee Bogle

History was rewritten this weekend when Poland fended off the Soviet Union but fell to Germany. Or, to clarify things, the University of Calgary women’s basketball Dinos took out one superpower, namely the third-ranked University of Victoria Vikes, only to be vanquished the following night by another, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, ranked #1 in the nation.


Not bad for the ninth-ranked Dinos.


Fri., Jan. 16 proved to be a thriller as the Dinos dethroned the defending national champions from Victoria.


"We were playing a very experienced team," beamed Dinos Head Coach Shawnee Harle.


The Dinos came out hard against the Soviet pigs and led for most of the game. They faltered however, losing the lead with less than three minutes to go, but back-to-back treys by Lindsay Maundrell sealed the victory. She connected for 22 points and 13 rebounds, aided by Tanya Hautala who added 16 points of her own.


Hautala prefers to avoid our alias for her, "Mrs. T," but when persistently hassled about it she would undoubtedly say, "Mr. T and I would make a lethal combination." Eat your heart out Rocky and Adrien, I smell a Rocky VI challenge coming in the near future.


Unfortunately, our Polish horses could not fend off the damn German tanks of UBC as the Dinos were trounced 63-41. Maundrell and Hautala dominated the board again for the Dinos with 15 and 11 points respectively.


"We would’ve had to play a near perfect game to win," explained Maundrell. "We played poor against a weak defence."


To continue to beat top teams like the Vikes, more Dinos have to rise to Maundrell and Hautala’s level of play, especially with star player Jessica Foltinek wounded on the sidelines.


Jan. 23-24 sees the ladies venture to the daunting northern fortress of Edmonton to test their skills against the always challenging University of Alberta Pandas.


"I’d be happy with a split," commented Harle.


She’s just being modest, we know this team is capable of great things.