Box Score The University of Regina's women's basketball team earned a berth in the Canada West championship game after defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies by a score of 64-58 on Friday night in the conference semifinals at the West Gym on the campus of Simon Fraser University.

The Cougars jumped out in front early, leading by nine after the first quarter and extending that lead to as many as 15 points in the second. Saskatchewan fought back, however, scoring 13 consecutive points in the third quarter to all but erase Regina's lead.

Though the Huskies drew to within one point in the third, they were never able to tie the game or take the lead. The veteran Cougars made some key plays down the stretch to keep Saskatchewan at bay, including a clutch three-pointer by Rebecca Schmidt that put them up six with 1:45 left and a pair of Megan Cherkas free throws in the last minute that made it a three-possession game.

“We played a really good first half and panicked a little bit in the second,” Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said following the game. “But we made some nice plays down the stretch. There are no easy games this time of year and it was a great win tonight for our team.”

Jessica Lynch scored a game-high 13 points and added seven rebounds for the Cougars, who also had seven boards from both Cherkas and Chelsea Cassano. Cassano was 5-for-7 from the field and scored 10 points, while Brittany Read came off the bench to score eight points and grab six rebounds.

Lindsay Copeland scored 11 to lead the Huskies, while Amy Prokop had 10.

The Cougars will now prepare for the Canada West championship game against Simon Fraser. They'll take on the Clan on Saturday night at the West Gym, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

NOTES: The Cougars have never lost a Canada West semifinal, holding a perfect 4-0 record in those games.