EDMONTON - A true depth effort with eight players scoring six points or more helped propel the Alberta Pandas to a 77-66 victory and weekend sweep over the Winnipeg Wesmen Saturday night at the Saville Centre.

Annacy Palmer was the leading scorer for the home side, finishing with 14 points and three three-pointers made. She was closely trailed by Jayden Tanner and Ella Rees, who had 12 and 11 respectively. With the victory, the Pandas finish the first half of the season with a 6-2 record and currently sit in second place in the Prairie Division. Along with the depth scoring, a main key to the win was turnovers, or lack thereof, where the Pandas had 18 to Winnipeg's 24 and importantly outscored their opponents 21-to-11 off turnovers.

The Wesmen were paced by leading scorer Raia Gunto who had a good night with 16 points, and Jasia Hayden who stuffed the box score with 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. After the two losses, the Wesmen slide to 4-3 and head into the winter break sitting in fourth place.

Alberta opened an early lead on the back of some impressive depth scoring, as six Pandas recorded at least a basket in the first quarter. Ella Rees was the catalyst for the home side, hitting a three and being an effective ball distributor as the Pandas left the opening frame up 19-17.

The second quarter opened with the Pandas continuing to push the pace and capture momentum as they began the quarter on an 11-3 run highlighted by Annacy Palmer who hit two three's in the sequence. While Winnipeg would respond mostly because of the stellar quarter from Anna Kernaghan, who finished the half with a team-high nine points. The Pandas would head into the break up 40-32, with Palmer and Rees each finishing with nine points as well.

The Wesmen came out of the half with some impressive intensity, at one point cutting the Alberta lead to just three points, and saw a great quarter from Jasia Hayden who had a huge block and was the leading scorer with seven points. While the Pandas would survive into the fourth with a 56-52 lead, the Wesmen certainly won the quarter outscoring the home side 20-16.

The Pandas would not let this one slide, however, as in the fourth quarter Reece Hall and Palmer would lead a resurgence on the offensive end, while Alberta won the turnover battle only committing three to Winnipeg's six to help win the quarter 21-14, and ultimately the game.

The teams return to action on January 10th in the new year, where the Pandas travel to Lethbridge to take on the Pronghorns, while the Wesmen play host to the Calgary Dinos.