Winners of their past eight games and fresh off a two-game sweep over Winnipeg in the Great Plains Division final, the University of Regina Cougars enter this weekend's Canada West Final Four on a hot streak.

Ranked No. 3 in the CIS, the Cougars will get a rematch against the No. 4-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies in a Canada West semifinal game on Friday night. The Huskies are the only team to have beaten Regina in its last 12 games, as they dealt the Cougars a 76-48 loss in Regina in mid-January.

Despite being geographically separated by just 260 kilometres, Regina and Saskatchewan have never met in the postseason. Since Canada West and the old Great Plains Athletic Conference started an interlocking schedule back in 1999, the Cougars have won eight of the 11 regular season games between the two teams.

The Cougars are accustomed to enjoying an advantage off the glass, as they outrebound their opponents by an average of 12.1 boards per game. Regina is led by fifth-year forward Jessica Lynch in this category, as Lynch has a team-leading average of 8.4 rebounds per game and led Canada West with 94 offensive rebounds during the conference season. Lynch is also among the team leaders in scoring, as she averages 10.0 points per game. Chelsea Cassano (11.1 ppg) and Rebecca Schmidt (10.3) lead the Cougars in points.

One of the deepest teams in the country, the Cougars have several players who come off the bench to make key contributions. This list is headlined by second-year post Brittany Read, who has only started four games this season – including two last weekend against Winnipeg with Cassano nursing an injured ankle – but averages 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and leads the team with 36 blocked shots.

The U of R will be making its fourth appearance in the Canada West Final Four since the format was introduced prior to the 2002-03 season. Regina has won all three of its Canada West semifinal games to date, including an 84-79 upset over then-No. 1 Simon Fraser last season. This weekend, the Cougars will be looking for their second Canada West championship and their eight conference title overall.

Friday night's game between the Cougars and the Huskies is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. PST in Burnaby, B.C. The winner will move on to face the victor of the Simon Fraser/Alberta semifinal in the Canada West gold medal game on Saturday, while the losers will square off in the bronze medal game.

All four teams in the Canada West Final Four will advance to the CIS Championships in Regina, which begin on Friday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Live statistics will be provided this weekend for all four games. The link is available at www.reginacougars.com.