Box Score

The University of Regina's women's basketball team won its second Canada West championship in program history on Saturday night after a 53-37 road win over the Calgary Dinos at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium in Calgary.

The Cougars won this game with their defence, allowing 20 points in the first half and holding Calgary to just 17 in the second half while the U of R offence started to click in the third quarter.

“We struggled all game shooting the ball but I thought our veterans made some key plays in the second half which is what I expect of them,” Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said following the win. “We got our composure back in the second half and our rebounding and defence kept us in the game.”

The victory gives the Cougars their first Canada West banner since defeating UBC on their home court to win the 2004 conference title.

Lindsay Ledingham and Kehlsie Crone both led the Cougars with 11 points, while Brittany Read scored nine and led all players with 14 rebounds. Crone also tied her career high with nine rebounds, falling just short of what would have been her first double-double in a Cougar uniform.

Jessica Franz had 15 points and 11 rebounds to notch the game's lone double-double for Calgary, while Alex Cole helped out with 11 points and nine rebounds.

After a low-scoring first half that saw the two teams combine for a total of just 43 points over the first 20 minutes, the Cougars came out strong to open the second half. They held Calgary off the scoreboard for the first 4:36 of the third quarter as part of a 10-0 run that saw them build up their first double-digit lead of the game.

The U of R's third-quarter lead reached as many as 17 points after a Jennilea Coppola free throw, as the Dinos were held without a field goal for the first 8:51 of the quarter. Calgary scored the last five points of the quarter to cut the lead to 41-29 heading into the fourth, but the Cougars got those right back in the fourth as Read connected on a layup and Crone drilled a baseline triple to put the U of R back up by 17.

The Cougars continued the tough defence down the stretch, limiting Calgary to eight points in the fourth quarter to nail down the victory.

The University of Regina will host the 2013 CIS Championship from Mar. 15 through Mar. 17 at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport. The Cougars are one of six teams to have qualified for the tournament, with Calgary, Carleton, Fraser Valley, McGill, and Windsor as the others. The RSEQ champion and the wildcard berth have both yet to be determined.