Box Score

The University of Regina's top-ranked women's basketball team survived a late charge by Alberta on Friday night and came away with an 81-76 win over the Pandas in Canada West action at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The two teams traded leads a total of nine times over the first three quarters and it looked as though the Cougars had finally pulled away from Alberta after building up a 15-point lead in the fourth, but the Pandas mounted a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to three with 40 seconds left. That was as close as the visitors would come, as both Brittany Read and Carly Graham hit two free throws in the final seconds of the contest to secure the win for the Cougars.

Joanna Zalesiak fell just short of a triple-double for the Cougars, ending up with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. Danielle Schmidt added 15 points for Regina, while Lindsay Ledingham (11 points), Carly Graham (10), and Jennilea Coppola (10) all hit double figures in scoring as well. Coppola added five rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench in the win.

Andria Carlyon, a transfer from Grande Prairie Regional College whose previous career high was 12 points, came off the bench to explode for a game-high 24 for the Pandas. Carlyon was 9-for-12 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line, while Nicole Clarke added 16 points and Sally Hillier scored 13.

The Cougars (16-0) clinched home court for the Canada West quarterfinals with the victory, while Alberta moves to 11-6 on the season.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the CKHS, with tip-off scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

NOTES: The Cougars have now won 18 consecutive Canada West games, a streak that started back on Feb. 18, 2011 ... that ties a program record, as the U of R also won 18 conference games in a row in a run that stretched from Jan. 27, 2001 to Jan. 11, 2002.