EDMONTON - Emma Kary had her second consecutive 30 point night and the Pandas went a blistering 14-for-27 from beyond the arc to beat the Calgary Dinos 87-76 Saturday evening at the Saville Centre.
For Alberta's Kary it is another great performance in what has been a phenomenal start to the 2022-23 campaign, following a 35 point career night Friday. In going 7-for-12 from deep, she tied her own Pandas program record for most threes hit in a game. She was buoyed by an excellent game from Claire Signatovich who recorded 17 points to go with 12 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks doing her best Andrei Kirilenko impression.
Calgary was paced by Madison Landry who had a 17 point night, but their strength came again in depth finishing with four double-digit scorers.
It was an exciting game that featured 18 lead changes, and both teams virtually tied at 17 minutes playing with a lead. It was a game that could have gone either way, but the Pandas 27-16 fourth quarter margin sealed the win for the 3-1 Pandas. The Dinos take their first loss of the campaign and the teams are now tied in second place in the Canada West.
The Dinos picked up right where they left off Friday night, going on a 15-5 run to begin the game and force a Pandas timeout. All starters scored on the run and they forced an impressive five turnovers in the first four minutes of play. Alberta had to find a way to effectively stunt the hot Dinos start in the halfcourt, and coach Scott Edwards decided to go to a full court press which was highly effective. Second-year Pandas guard Morgan Harris had two steals in the quarter as the lynchpin in the press, and facilitated an Alberta comeback that featured a 15-2 run to end the quarter. The hosts would enter the second up 20-17, with the Pandas Emma Kary again leading all players with a six point quarter.
The Dinos fifth-year Madison Landry got the visitors off to a roaring second quarter start, hitting a couple field goals and a three in an 8-4 run to take the lead at 27-24. The quarter from there was a remarkable display of shooting from both sides, who shot a cumulative 58.3% from the field and added nine threes. It was Harris who impressed in the frame, scoring a quarter-high eight points and adding two threes. With no press the Dinos were able to operate their effective half-court offence, one which Landry led with seven points in the quarter. It was a back-and-forth quarter, one which featured nine lead changes, but the Dinos were able to head into half up 45-43 after a last second basket from third-year Mya Proctor who had ten points at the intermission.
The Dinos offence came out of the break stagnant, with the Pandas pressing and halfcourt defence forcing turnovers and bad looks. They shot 27.8% from the field in the quarter, and committed eight turnovers as the Pandas fought back to take a four point lead off a 8-2 run. Kary was in form in the quarter scoring a high of nine points, while Louise Rouse paced the Dinos with six. The game entered the final frame knotted at 60 apiece.
The fourth had enough excitement to fill a whole game. The Saville Centre patrons were treated to high-tempo physical basketball with remarkable shooting, passing and defence. The Pandas got the ball rolling with a 14-6 run in the first five minutes to hang to an eight point lead with three minutes to go. Kary hit two straight threes, part of her quarter-high xx, near the end of the run to send the home crowd into bedlam and force a Calgary timeout. Down the stretch it was mostly all Alberta, an inverse performance from their fourth-quarter meltdown on Friday. Kary hit a dagger three with a minute left to put the game to rest at 87-76.
The Pandas host the 1-2 Victoria Vikes next weekend for a two-game set, while the Dinos return home to take on the 0-3 MacEwan Griffins.
