LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Calgary Dinos used a dominating second-half defence to defeat the Trinity Western Spartans 76-47 and earn a trip to the Canada West semi-finals Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Spartans earned the hosting spot after finishing second in the Pacific Division at 15-5, while Calgary finished third in the Prairie Division at 16-4. The Dinos defeated Manitoba 91-67 in the play-in round.
 
First-year guard Mavleen Chahal (Kelowna, B.C.) with 10 points, second-year guard Colette Van der Hoven (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with nine points and six rebounds, and fourth-year guard Myrlaine Shelvey (Langley, B.C.) with nine points and six rebounds as well led the Spartans.
 
Second-year guard Christine Geraldo (Montreal) with 16 points and four rebounds, fourth-year guard Lilia Skumatova (Grimsby, Ont.) with 12 points, four rebounds, and four steals, and third-year guard Raya Hafez (Calgary) with 10 points all hit double-digit scoring for the Dinos.
 
UP NEXT
Calgary will travel to Saskatoon, Sask. To take on the Saskatchewan Huskies next weekend.
 
QUOTABLE
Sarah Besselink, Calgary Head Coach
"It was key for us to get off to a great start. We knew they were going to punch back. Obviously, they made quite a run in the first quarter after we were up 14-0. ?But at halftime, we made some adjustments. We started switching a lot more, and we were able to avoid getting lost defensively. So that allowed us to contest a lot more of their shots, and I think that was the factor.
 
On facing Saskatchewan
"We've got a tough test in front of us. with Saskatchewan. They are fantastic. They're undefeated for a reason, and, um, but we're gonna have to come up with a good game plan."
 
Cheryl Jean-Paul, Trinity Western Head Coach
"This is a potent offensive team that we were playing against, and it's not just about trading baskets with them. ?It's about being able to get full stops and then get good scoring looks off them. They have a style of play they've been honing for several years, and they obviously play with a lot of maturity, knowing their strengths and going to them. I think our challenge was getting lost a little bit in that third quarter, and we started to really panic, over-dribbling, and just going away from some of the things that have been giving us success this past season."
 
"We've tried to make sure that our defensive plan stayed strong until our offence could catch up. But this is the kind of team, though, that once you get into a deficit, it's really hard to catch up. I thought we did a great job in the second quarter of climbing back into this game, single digits going into the second half, which is exactly where you want to be. One of our goals was to keep them under 20 points per quarter because that's really hard to chase after. And from that perspective, we achieved our goals in the second half, but your challenge then is when you're single digits for two back-to-back quarters, when you're trying to make a big run."
 
"But these are the type of lessons that are part of our process. Last year, our goal was to make the playoffs, and we did that. We went to the playin game, and that was really exciting. ?This year, our goal was to finish in the top two on the Pacific side, and we did that. I thought we did some really good things this entire season. ?We've had some young ones have to step up into big roles. And now our objective is what does each athlete want to do and need to do to make sure that they're the better version of themselves going into next year? ?Because we want to be back in this exact same type of situation, just with a different outcome next season."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Dinos came out flying and quickly took control of the game, jumping out to a 14-0 lead five minutes into the opening quarter. The Spartans slowly found their way and cut into the lead slightly, trailing by 10 points, 26-16, at the end of the opening quarter. The Spartans continued to chip away at the Dinos' lead and, with six minutes remaining in the half, only trailed by four points, 30-26. But Calgary finished the half strong and went into the halftime break with a nine-point lead, 41-32.
 
Calgary stepped up their defensive presence in the third quarter, only allowing TWU to score six points as the Dinos headed into the final frame with a solid 19-point, 57-38 lead. The Dinos once again held the Spartans to single-digit scoring in the fourth quarter as Calgary solidified their 29-point, 76-47 win.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 27.9 percent (17-61) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-2) from the three-point line, and 70 percent (7-10) from the foul line, while the Dinos shot 42.9 percent (30-70), 100 percent (2-2), and 83.3 percent (10-12) respectively.
• Calgary had a 51-35 edge in rebounds, 14-8 in assists, and 13-7 in steals.
• TWU finished with 21 turnovers to Calgary's 14.
• The Spartans are currently 2-30 lifetime against the Calgary/
• TWU last played Calgary on January 19-20 in Calgary. Losing both 90-63 and 77-70 in Calgary, Alta.
• The Spartans' last win over the Dinos was 88-76 on January 12, 2018, in Langley, B.C.

 
About Canada West:
As the leading university athletic conference in the country, Canada West is home to student-athletes that excel in the classroom and their communities. The conference is comprised of 17 member institutions spanning from Victoria to Winnipeg, with over 3,200 student-athletes competing across 14 sports. Canada West's mission is to train leaders and build champions by providing leadership in the delivery, regulation, and promotion of university level high performance sports programs throughout western Canada.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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