The University of Regina's women's basketball team suffered an 89-69 road loss to Victoria on Friday night in what was the first Canada West game of the season for both teams.

Victoria (1-0) was led by Jessica Renfrew's four three-pointers and game-high 21 points, while three other Vikes broke into double figures including Jenna Bugiardini with 19. Cassandra Goodis dished out 12 assists for UVic, while Amira Giannattasio scored 13 and Nicole Karstein added 10.

Rookie forward Christina McCusker (pictured) came off the bench to score 19 for the Cougars, ending up playing a team-high 26 minutes in her first career Canada West game. Charlotte Kot and Katie Polischuk added 12 points for the Cougars, while Jennilea Coppola pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

The Cougars had a strong start and led by 11 at one point in the first quarter after scoring 19 of the first 27 points of the game, but Victoria came storming back. The Vikes outscored Regina by a 31-17 margin in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead at the half, then took complete control of the game in a third quarter in which they outscored the Cougars 31-15.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at McKinnon Gymnasium on the UVic campus. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. (PDT).