#11 Laura Dally (pictured above) had a team-high 18 points on Nov. 14

Following a bye week and a week off of school, the men and women’s Huskies basketball teams were well prepared and rested for the visiting University of Winnipeg Wesmen.

Using home court advantage, the teams took three of a possible four wins from the visiting Wesmen.

On Nov. 14, the women used a stingy defensive effort to knock off Winnipeg 64–49. Using a big first quarter that saw them have an 18–9 lead, the Huskies would hold the Wesmen to just 32 per cent shooting on the night. The Wesmen could never come back from the early nine-point deficit and a strong fourth quarter would put the Dogs ahead for good.

CIS-transfer Laura Dally led the Dogs in scoring with 18 points. The former Western University Mustang is averaging 12 points per game in her first year with the Huskie program. Last year’s Canada West MVP Dalyce Emmerson chipped in with a double-double in the winning effort with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Shooting for the sweep the next night, the Dogs had a dominant second and third quarter where they outscored Winnipeg 50–19 to pace them to a comfortable 84–51 victory. The losses were the first two of the season for the ninth ranked Wesmen as they drop to 4–2 on the year.

Four different Huskies scored in double figures and collectively the team shot 47 per cent. Using a massive rebound advantage — 51 to 23 — the Huskies controlled the play and used some of those rebounds to score second chance points, 21 of them in fact, compared to just one for Winnipeg. Kelsey Trulsrud led the way offensively with 17 points and Emmerson added 14 points and nine rebounds.

The first match of the weekend for the men was a back-and-forth affair with the Dogs falling behind by 11 at halftime, only to recover with a huge third quarter to lead 53–51 heading into the final frame.

The Wesmen began to shoot the lights out in the fourth and put up 33 points to pull away for the 84–67 victory. Winnipeg forward Jelane Pryce was difficult for the Huskies to guard all night as he scored 25 points and had 14 rebounds. Mike Scott and Dadrian Collins were the high scorers for the Huskies with 15 points each.

Saturday night was another thriller as the home team pulled out a big 71–68 win to salvage a weekend split and improve their record to 2–2. Down by five points going into the second quarter, the Huskies rebounded nicely to outscore the Wesmen 22–9. Shooting 41 per cent in the game and getting a nice contribution from their bench the Dogs were able to escape with a three-point victory.

Scott again was the biggest Huskie threat with 16 points on 6–12 shooting. Matthew Forbes was a defensive workhorse with 13 rebounds and three blocks in the game. Winnipeg’s Pryce had another good game as he had another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Following the weekend action, the men’s team sits in sixth place with the top seven teams making playoffs, while the women are also sixth in the new Pioneers Division of the Canada West. Both teams have 2–2 records to begin the season.

Both teams now remain at home with a weekend set of games coming up against the University of Victoria Vikes on Nov. 21 and 22. The women’s games are scheduled for 6:15 p.m. while the men are set to tip off at 8 p.m.

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Photo: Katherine Fedoroff/Photo Editor