Whoop! There it is, I thought you knew

By Sean Nyilassy

Like Much Music’s Dance Mix ’93, the Dinos women’s basketball team continue to prove they’re the top of the crop. They went into the holidays on a six-game winning streak and, after a quick turkey dinner, returned to the University of Calgary still hungry for more. Dinner was served in the form of the annual Holiday Hoops tournament in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

The first course was the Universite Laval Rouge et Or. There was much rouge spilt on the court, and the Dinos comfortably secured the or from this game. After allowing Laval to jump out to an atrocious 0-11 lead two and a half minutes into the game, the Dinos finally regrouped and raised the drawbridge. They only allowed another 13 points for the duration of the half, sinking 46 of their own.

“After not having played for a month, we needed a chance to settle and get our rhythm back,” said Head Coach Shawnee Harle.

The Dinos didn’t quite continue at this pace for the second half, but maintained a cushy lead. The final score: Dinos 75, Rouge et Or 60. Tag ’em, and bag ’em.

Tanya Hautala led the Dino charge with 21 points. Whitney Haswell chimed in with a double-double worthy 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Having whet their appetite, the Dinos tucked in their napkins and seized their utensils in preparation for the main course, the University of Victoria Vikes. The meat proved tough to chew and the Dinos struggled in the first half. The Vikes defense focused on Hautala, keeping her to four points and earning a 28-31 halftime lead.

The game remained close throughout the second half with the Dinos trailing by a couple of points until the last two minutes of play. A three-pointer from Katherine Adams finally gave them a lead they wouldn’t let go of. Strong offensive play in the final minute allowed the Dinos to secure a 63-58 win.

Hautala shook the defence in the second half, hitting 21 points and bringing her game total to 25. Adams had 10.

Before they could taste the sweet dessert of victory, our ladies had one more opponent to chew up. The University of Toronto Varsity Blue didn’t ever look in a position to win, but the game went on anyway.

The Dinos strolled to a quick 11-0 lead but allowed the Blue to hold on to an eight-point deficit at the half. That was enough of that however. A few minutes into the second half the Dinos stepped up to full steam ahead. By forcing 29 turnovers including 19 steals, the Dinos secured an 80-56 clobbering and the tournament win.

Michelle Willson had 12 points and eight rebounds while Courtney Coyle, Brianna Orr and Haswell added 11, 10 and 10 points respectively. Lindsay Maundrell slyly stole the ball six times.

With this little non-conference meal under their belts, the Dinos returned to the home court to play the Brandon University Bobcats Jan. 6-7. See page 11 for coverage.