Ballers try bird watching

By Sean Nyilassy

The Dinos women’s basketball team had a frightfully ghoulish pair of eve’s against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Oct. 28-29. Like introverted elementary school girls, the Dinos stood behind mommy’s leg at the haunted house when they should have been shooting baskets.

“I felt like Friday’s game was a nasty Halloween joke,” Head Coach Shawnee Harle lamented.

The T-Birds jumped to an early lead, widening it to 49-22 by the half. The game continued in this fashion with the T-Birds bringing in pillowcases of points while the Dinos attained just a Jack-o’-lantern bucket full. The final 96-57 score left the Dinos feeling like a child with bottle-cap glasses being bullied by the high school kids.

“We weren’t present Friday,” declared Tanya Hautala, a top scorer for the Dinos. “We couldn’t play much worst than we did.”

But statistically, the loss comes as no surprise. The T-Birds had four ladies in double digits while Hautala and Jamie Morck each had nine for the Dinos. Our ladies shot 39 per cent from the floor to UBC’s 53. Plus, the Dinos turned the ball over 28 times–double that of UBC.

Saturday’s match was less of a devastating blow. The Dinos were hopeful at the half, down by just nine points. Unfortunately, no comeback awaited on the horizon and the final score read 88-71.

“We need to be starting halves and games better,” Dino Lindsay Maundrell explained, “and we’re working on it.”

The Dinos did make many improvements however. Courtney Coyle, Katherine Adams and Hautala netted 14 points and Morck added 12 while Michelle Willson hauled down 10 boards. Unfortunately, with three ‘Birds hitting for 20 or more points, the Dinos efforts were meek. Maundrell felt this problem can be tamed with a little bit more defensive “oomph.”

“Our slow start is a concern, but we’re fiddling with the starting lineup to get a combination going,” promised Harle, emphasizing that with more than half of the players being rookies, this team will be improving throughout the year.

The Dinos host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Nov. 4-5 in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium at 7 p.m.

“I want [the Dinos] to come out and compete, play tough and play smart for 40 minutes,” said Harle.

The Huskies rank below the third-ranked T-Birds at seventh in the country. Come out and cheer your Dinos on to their first win.