Before attending the University of Oklahoma, she attended Thousand Islands Secondary School (TISS) and Dales was a star for the TISS Pirates ladies basketball team during her high school years, Dales was a major reason why TISS captured three consecutive Ontario ‘AA’ high school senior girls basketball championships 1994, 1995 & 1996. After graduating in 1997 she attended the University of Oklahoma, Dales made an Olympic appearance for Canada in 2000 and was a first team All-American in 2001 and 2002. She was named the 2001 and 2002 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and is the Big 12 all-time career assist leader (764). In 2002, she was the all-sports Academic All-American of the Year. She was the first Oklahoma player to record 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 700 assists. During her senior year she led the Sooners to the NCAA Championship game where they lost to Connecticut.