“Sacrebleu!” exclaimed the foreign fans as the Dinos women’s basketball team triumphed at the McGill Redbird Classic Oct. 15-17. The girls marched back to Alberta victorious after travelling across the border to Quebec for their first tournament. The immigrations officers caused them some delays, but the ladies managed to overcome adversity and exceed expectations.
“We didn’t have any expectations going in,” Head Coach Shawnee Harle commented. “It was too early to have any.”
When they met the Dinos Fri., Oct. 15, the University of Toronto Blues didn’t “expect” to have their asses handed to them on a silver platter with caviar, but hindsight is everything. At the half the Dinos were up 44-36 with team hero Tanya Hautala having already drained 18 points.
After the final buzzer had buzzed and the red light had lighted, the scoreboard scored 82-60 for the Dinos. Hautala received the scouts salute as well as MVP salutations for the game with an astounding 31 points.
Sat., Oct. 16 saw the Dinos meet the home team.
“J’aime des grenouilles, beaucoup. Grenouilles, grenouilles, grenouilles!” exclaimed a stunned McGill Head Coach Ryan Thorne following the game.
We didn’t actually talk to the coach, but being mind-readers we know this would be along the lines of what he’d say.
But getting back to the game, the Dinos won 60-50. Jade Jensen was named MVP of the game, netting 15 points and five rebounds.
The Dinos final game was against the Dalhousie University Tigers, who were also undefeated thus far. Our ladies failed to disappoint, grabbing the tiger by the tail and holding on for a 64-52 victory. Michelle Stiphout was MVP for the game while Lindsay Maundrell added hers; hitting an epic 15 consecutive free throws over two games.
The comfortable wins allowed the Dinos to experiment with the line-up a bit, giving the rookies a chance to strut their stuff on the hardwood runway.
“Everyone got play time in every game,” Maundrell told the press. “[The rookies are] all skilled and stuff.”
Both Hautala and Cory Bekkering from the Dinos were named to the tournament All-Star team for their efforts over the weekend
The ladies next preseason tournament is the Panda HoopFest at the University of Alberta Oct. 22-24. Our magic “Kokanee” eight-ball tells us that “all signs point to yes” for another undefeated weekend in Edmonton. Harle quietly agrees, leaving Canada West with one thing to worry about.
“We’re a much better team than last year.”