Box Score Box Score

Brittany Read had 28 points to lead the University of Regina's women's basketball team to a 71-58 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Thursday night in a Canada West quarterfinal game at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The game was delayed by over 90 minutes while waiting for the officiating crew to arrive. After the contest finally started, Lethbridge hung tough with the No. 4-ranked Cougars – at one point midway through the first quarter, the Pronghorns led by eight points.

Lethbridge led 30-29 at the half, but the Cougars took the lead for good early in the third quarter. Regina outscored the Pronghorns by a 19-10 margin in the third and put away the visitors with eight consecutive points over a three-minute span in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we handled the disruption to the game like a veteran team, but it still took most of the first quarter to get the rust off after the two-week break,” Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said. “We took advantage of Brittany's strength down low and started knocking down some outside shots in the second half.”

Read was 11-for-17 from the field, 6-for-9 from the free throw line, and pulled down ten rebounds to register the game's lone double-double. The third-year post's 28 points equalled her career high.

Stacey Walker had 12 points, all of which came in the second half off three-pointers. Gabrielle Gheyssen also had 12 and added six rebounds for the Cougars.

Sam Hornqvist led Lethbridge with 13 points and tied Hannah Blanchette for the team lead with five rebounds. Blanchette also had ten points and five steals for the Pronghorns, while Kenzie Sheen chipped in with 11.

The victory gives the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three conference quarterfinal series, which will continue with Game 2 on Friday night at 7 p.m. If necessary, a third game will go on Saturday night at 7 p.m.