Calgary Stampeders narrowly beat MRU women's basketball team in friendly pickup game
Danielle Nerman | CBC News | Posted: March 16, 2016 3:44 PM | Last Updated: March 16, 2016
Varsity team raising cash for equipment through crowdfunding platform
The CFL season is still months away, but that didn't stop the Calgary Stampeders from lacing up for a game of epic rivalry.
But this battle wasn't fought on turf. It happened on hardwood.
On Wednesday morning, the Stamps took on the Cougars — Mount Royal University's women's basketball team.
And they only beat them by five points.
"I don't think you guys stand a chance," MRU team captain Angela Driscoll told Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell before the game on Wednesday morning.
Mitchell was quick to (sarcastically) point out that his team is also at the "peak" of their basketball season, having recently played several elementary and high school teams.
"You know who is actually pretty good and I don't think you would expect is Charleston Hughes," said Mitchell.
"The guy can play for a big man."
The Stamps won the game 40-35. It took place in the Triple Gymnasium at Mount Royal University.
University-approved crowdfunding
The friendly game is meant to bring awareness to the varsity team's campaign to buy state-of-the-art heart rate monitors.
They need $10,000 and have raised more than half that amount in nine days thanks to USEED — a crowdfunding platform developed in the U.S. that's geared specifically towards post-secondary projects.
The platform is hosted by MRU and is being promoted by the university as a tool to financially assist students and professors — a first for a Calgary post-secondary institution.
According to the MRU website, USEED is "not intended to replace existing funding to Mount Royal University but to allow small, interesting projects the chance to succeed."
"Crowdfunding offers many exciting opportunities for people to invest directly in a project of interest to them."
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener