Box Score LETHBRIDGE - Coming off of an impressive performance against the No. 5 ranked University of Alberta Pandas that left the 2-10 University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball team just four points shy of major upset, the ‘Horns welcomed the 7-5 University of Calgary Dinos to the 1^st Choice Savings Centre with a more distinct confidence and hunger than has been present in their past few games. That attitude coupled with the volume of a supportive home crowd boosted the ‘Horns to a tenacious three quarters, but they ultimately could not outlast the visiting Dinos, dropping the contest 71-61.

Dinos’s fourth year forward Jessica Franz, led all scorers with 18 points while pulling down six rebounds. Tamara Jarrett added another 13 and Jenna Kaye grabbed another six boards.

Lethbridge forward, Kim Veldman, notched her fourth double-double of the year, contributing 14 points and ten rebounds, while Lauren Taal and the hot-shooting Ali Cameron added 12 points apiece.

Despite the loss of key contributor, Natalie Nichols, to a concussion suffered last weekend, the ‘Horns came out to a solid start to the game, vying for a lead that was punctuated by a banked Katlyn Olsen three-pointer at the buzzer of the first stanza that pushed the ‘Horns’s lead to 22-17.

In the second quarter, the teams remained within a few points of each other—many of the Dinos’s points coming off of easy layups resulting from back door cuts and give-and-go’s, but the ‘Horns continued to display the tenacity and poise with which they entered the game. The Calgary team tied up the game at 27 with 1:45 left to play in the half, but a beautiful pass by fifth year ‘Horns guard Lauren Taal to Idaho-native Deanna Dotts put the ‘Horns back on top and a timely three by Ali Cameron pushed the lead back to five. The Dinos would answer with a three of their own by Erika Romanow to bring the score to a two point differential, advantage ‘Horns, heading into the locker rooms at half time.

Both teams were plagued with turnovers in the opening moments of the third quarter, but neither team could use them to gain a clear advantage over the other and the score remained in a virtual deadlock through much of the period. The Dinos cut into a ‘Horns lead in the waning minutes of the quarter and Franz completed a three point play to put her team up one with 4 seconds to go. The Dinos then managed to convert a ‘Horns turnover into a wild three point bucket by Megan Schaufele at the buzzer to put the Dinos up 51-47 with one quarter left to play.

That boost of momentum going into the fourth would prove deadly to the ‘Horns’s efforts toward a win as the Dinos used the opening stages of the quarter to push their lead to eight before the home team answered with a score of their own. The Calgary team pushed their margin to a game high of 13 with a minute left to play, with the final score rounding out to show a Dinos’s ten point victory.

Pronghorns coach Donna Branch commented on her teams execution and compared their performance to last weekend’s games against U of A. “We need to learn to perform better off of the scouting report. We made adjustments last weekend after Friday and played much better on Saturday. We need to learn to adjust to the flow of the game instead and be prepared for the unexpected. Today we weren’t ready for their press or the noise, actually. We need to find a way to win when unexpected things happen.”

The ‘Horns will try to find a way to build off of three quarters of close basketball and make the necessary adjustments to pull out a win tomorrow night. The two teams will face off again at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre at 6:00 with the men’s game to follow. The game will be webcast on canadawest.tv.