After registering the first perfect conference season in program history, the University of Regina's women's basketball team wipes the slate clean this weekend as the Cougars host Winnipeg in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
Game 1 and Game 2 will go on Friday and Saturday nights at the CKHS beginning at 7 p.m. If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Sunday afternoon starting at 3 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through Recreation and Athletic Services on campus at the CKHS or via telephone at (306) 585-4371.
The No. 1-ranked Cougars have put together a wildly successful season so far. They have an overall record of 30-1, just finished the Canada West schedule with a 20-0 mark, and have won 23 consecutive games over a winning streak that began with a non-conference win over Cape Breton back on Oct. 28.
The Cougars averaged 84.2 points per game during the conference schedule, which stands as the third highest in Canada West history. The only teams to have averaged more points per game over a full Canada West season are the 1988-89 and 1989-90 versions of the Calgary Dinos, who averaged 89.6 and 86.6 points per game, respectively.
Michelle Clark set a University of Regina single-season record with 57 three-pointers in her first season as a Cougar after transferring from Purdue. She averaged a team-high 15.0 points per game and shot 37.3% from behind the arc.
Joanna Zalesiak (12.8 points per game),
Lindsay Ledingham (12.5), and
Danielle Schmidt (10.3) also averaged in double figures for the Cougars, while Zalesiak led the team in both assists and steals and Ledingham pulled down a team-high 153 rebounds.
Brittany Read rounds out the starting five for the Cougars, as the fourth-year post averages 7.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.
Carly Graham essentially receives starter's minutes off the bench, shooting a team-high 43% from three-point land and averaging 8.6 points in 23.5 minutes per game.
Megan Chamberlin,
Jennilea Coppola, and rookies
Alyssia Kajati and
Madi Docherty are also relied upon for quality minutes off the bench.
Winnipeg, which is coming off a road split at Calgary last weekend, finished in fifth place in the Prairie Division standings with a 9-11 record and got into the postseason by earning Canada West's wildcard bid. The Wesmen clinched a playoff spot after Trinity Western's loss to Fraser Valley last Friday, ensuring that Winnipeg would beat out Victoria for the wildcard berth.
Winnipeg is led by fifth-year guard Amy Ogidan, one of three Wesmen players to start all 20 conference games this season. Ogidan led the team in virtually every conceivable statistical category during the Canada West schedule, including points per game (13.3), rebounds (150), assists (46), blocks (17), and steals (36). Yael Kaplan was the only other Winnipeg player to average in double figures in scoring (10.8 points per game), though Stephanie Kleysen (9.9) and Alyssa Grant (9.4) weren't too far off.
Regina and Winnipeg have met three times this season, with the Cougars winning all three contests. They defeated the Wesmen 92-59 in a non-conference game on Oct. 9 in Winnipeg, and followed it up with 84-62 and 98-71 wins over the Wesmen in Canada West tilts in Regina on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28.
Not surprisingly, the Cougars have played Winnipeg in more postseason games than any other school. The two ancient GPAC rivals have met in 26 playoff contests over the years, with the U of R holding a 15-11 edge in those games. The Cougars have defeated the Wesmen in five straight postseason games, including the 2004 CIS semifinal and two best-of-three Great Plains Division final series (2008 and 2009).
The last time Winnipeg defeated Regina in a playoff game was in 2002, when the Wesmen scored a 64-47 victory over the Cougars in the third-place game at the CIS Championship.
The winner of this quarterfinal series will move on to the Canada West Final Four, which would be hosted by the University of Regina on Mar. 2 and Mar. 3 if the Cougars defeat the Wesmen this weekend.
