Griffins' turnovers, cold-shooting lead to blowout loss against Calgary
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
13 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 75 |
|
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2 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 21 |
Team Stats
Calgary
| Game Statistics | Calgary | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (32-71) | (7-43) |
| Field Goal % | 45.1% | 16.3% |
| Rebounds | 39 | 26 |
| Assists | 19 | 5 |
| Turnovers | 13 | 41 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 42 | 2 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 12 | 11 |
| Pts in the Paint | 48 | 4 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 18 | 2 |
| Bench Pts | 21 | 5 |
Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — If you had to describe the MacEwan Griffins game against the Calgary Dinos on Saturday afternoon in one word, it would simply be … frustrating.
Their defence was locked in throughout the opening quarter limiting the Dinos to just 13 points. The problem was they struggled to score … badly.
They were held to just two points in the first and fourth quarters, and the Dinos scored 42 points off 41 turnovers in a 75-21 loss on Saturday afternoon at the David Atkinson gymnasium.
"We had a tough start, and we wanted to regroup and try to find ways to get ourselves back into the game, but it just got away from us," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams.
"In the first quarter, 11 of their 13 points came off turnovers, and those are things that are under our control, but unfortunately they turned up the heat, and we didn't respond."
Unity Obasuyi and Sarah Burnell led the Griffins with five points each. Burnell recorded a season-high eight rebounds, as MacEwan shot just 16.3% (7-of-43) in the loss, dropping to 0-14 this season.
Kourtney Oss led Calgary with 25 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Storie Pollyanna (12 points) Amelie Collin (11 points) and Emma Yarwood (11 points) all scored in double figures.
Yarwood and Pollyanna also chipped in with seven and five rebounds, while Collin had eight of the Dinos 24 steals in the win.
"They're known for being a tough physical team, and they try to get hands on every pass, and we weren't used to that physicality, and we got on our back foot early and when a team senses that pressure early, they can be like a shark smelling blood. They want more," said Adams.
"We didn't respond and hit back with that early enough and we committed too many turnovers."
Calgary scored the first 13 points of the game before Samantha Hickey's bucket in the dying seconds of the opening quarter made it 13-2. From there, though, Calgary went on a 23-0 run to start the second quarter and blew the game wide open.
Sarah Burnell nets three points for the @MacEwanGriffins late in the first half off a free throw and a layup! pic.twitter.com/znFdLeouc7
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) January 17, 2026
Burnell grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a bucket to make it 36-5, but the Griffins were ice-cold shooting in the first half, hitting just two shots from the field, and were outscored 25-5 in the second quarter.
MacEwan started to find some form of rhythm offensively in the third quarter, as they were outscored 18-12, but turnovers continued to plague them throughout the four quarters.
The Griffins were outscored 18-2 in fast break points, and were dominated in the paint 48-4, as the Dinos length and size up front gave MacEwan everything they could handle and more.
In Friday's loss to Calgary, the Griffins hung with Dinos, holding a 35-33 lead early in the third quarter, before Calgary was able to take over in the fourth — but MacEwan didn't have any answers for Calgary's relentless defence in Saturday's loss.
"I thought in the third quarter, not that we scored the ball well, but we started to get a little more rhythm with it, which gave us more opportunities," said Adams.
"It all feeds one thing into another. When you turn the ball over, then you don't get to flow into transition, and it creates a situation where you're always playing against a defence that is set, the game gets played 5v5, and you don't get those turnovers to capitalize on."
Offensively, MacEwan was ice-cold, except for the third quarter where they shot 35.7%. But in the first half, they combined to shoot just 10.5%, and in the fourth, all they could muster was two made free throws from Ayla Grady to make it 65-21.
"There will be some great film we can take from this that will help us prepare for Manitoba next weekend," said Adams.
"When we have tough games, all you can do is take the lessons to learn through humility, and move forward, because we still have lots of basketball to play."
MacEwan will be on the road the next two weekends when they face the Manitoba Bisons Jan. 23-24 and then travel to Brandon Jan. 30-31.
