Box Score Box Score

The University of Regina's women's basketball team won the Great Plains Division championship on Friday night after hanging on for a 60-59 victory over a resilient Winnipeg Wesmen squad at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The win gives the No. 3-ranked Cougars a 2-0 win in the best-of-three division final, and Regina will now advance to the Canada West Final Four.

Down 60-57 with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter after a pair of Megan Cherkas free throws, the No. 8-ranked Wesmen passed it around the perimeter but couldn't find an open shooter to take a three-pointer. Mackenzie Prasek hit a wide-open layup to cut the lead to one, but with only two-tenths of a second remaining on the clock, the Wesmen didn't have enough time to get the ball back for a final shot.

The Cougars might have run away with Game 1, but Friday's game was a completely different story. Winnipeg held a one-point lead after the first quarter and at halftime and extended that lead to five points after three. The veteran Cougars were able to battle back down the stretch, though. Regina ended up outscoring Winnipeg by a 17-11 margin in the final quarter, which never saw more than a three-point separation after the two-minute mark.

“We probably got outplayed tonight, but in the playoff we'll take even ugly wins,” Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said. “A sign of a veteran team is making plays down the stretch, which we did tonight.”

Fifth-year post Chelsea Cassano, who missed Thursday's game due to an ankle injury, came off the bench to lead the Cougars with 13 points.

“Chelsea gutted one out for us tonight,” Taylor said. “We needed her to spark us and she came through for us in a big way.”

Cassano also had seven rebounds, which trailed Jessica Lynch's eight for the team high. Rebecca Schmidt had 11 points for the Cougars, while Lynch chipped in with ten.

Winnipeg's Jessica Stromberg led all players with 15 points. Amy Ogidan had 14 points and ten rebounds to post a double-double, but fouled out late in the fourth quarter. The Wesmen also lost post Alexandria MacIver, who fouled out late in the third. The loss ends the Wesmen's season, but without a single fifth-year player on their roster, should return their entire team next year.

The Cougars will now prepare for the Canada West Final Four, which will be hosted by the division champion with the best league record. Regina could conceivably host the Final Four for the first time since 2004 if both Saskatchewan and Simon Fraser are upset in their division final series.

NOTES: Friday's game featured three tie scores and ten lead changes … the Cougars now hold a perfect 13-0 all-time postseason record against Winnipeg in Regina … the division championship is the second in a row for the Cougars.