The University of Regina's women's basketball team couldn't get the offence going in a 63-40 loss to No. 5 Saskatchewan on Saturday night in Saskatoon.
 
The loss drops the U of R's record to 10-4 on the season as the Cougars now sit in fourth place in the Pioneer Division standings.
 
Saskatchewan led 11-9 after a low-scoring first quarter in which neither team scored in the final three minutes, but the Huskies put some distance between the two teams after ending the half on a 15-4 run over the final eight minutes to go up by 13 at the break.
 
The Cougars showed signs of life in the third quarter as five different players scored as part of a 10-1 run capped by Katie Polischuk free throws to get within seven, but that was as close as the visitors would get. Saskatchewan quickly responded to get the lead back up to 15, then 11 straight points for the Huskies early in the fourth put the game away.
 
Kabree Howard led Saskatchewan (9-3) with 16 points.
 
Charlotte Kot had a team-leading 13 points for the Cougars, while Alyssia Kajati had eight points and led the U of R with nine rebounds.
 
The Cougars will now prepare for their first Canada West home games in nearly two months, as they'll play host to Pioneer Division-leading Alberta (11-2) at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport next Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.). The Pandas were ranked No. 3 in the CIS before their weekend sweep over Manitoba, and could be ranked even higher coming into Regina given No. 1 Windsor's home loss to Wilfrid Laurier on Saturday.