A 15-1 run that spanned the final minute of the second quarter and the first three minutes of the third put the No. 7-ranked University of Regina's women's basketball team in control, and the Cougars led by double figures for most of the rest of the way in a 72-58 season-opening win at Brandon on Friday night.

The two teams went toe to toe for much of the first half, including eight lead changes in the second quarter alone. But after the teams went into halftime separated by only two points, the Cougars erupted with triples from three of their five starters – Kehlsie Crone, Sidney Dobner, and Katie Polischuk – and back-to-back buckets by Charlotte Kot (pictured) as part of their 13-point outburst to start the third.

That put the Cougars (1-0) in the driver's seat and though Brandon responded with a 10-0 run of its own over the next three minutes to cut the lead to four, that was the closest the Bobcats would get. The Cougars quickly got the lead back up to 11 before the end of the third and were able to clamp down defensively down the stretch.

In particular, head coach Dave Taylor thought the team's ability to limit Brandon's offensive rebounds was key in that fourth quarter.

"We were fairly solid tonight with the exception of giving up too many offensive rebounds and committing an alarming number of turnovers," Taylor said. "But we improved there in the fourth quarter and we'll need to do a better job in both of those areas to beat a tough Brandon team again tomorrow night."

Alyssia Kajati had a team-leading 16 points for the Cougars, while Kot had 14 points and 12 rebounds to collect her eighth career double-double. Kehlsie Crone added 13 points for the U of R in the win.

The Cougars were a fine 21-for-26 (81%) from the charity stripe, including 11-for-12 in the fourth quarter alone. Michaela Kleisinger and Sara Hubenig combined to go 7-for-8 from the line in the final 60 seconds of the game to help seal the win.

Keisha Cox led Brandon (0-1) with 17 points.

The two teams will finish off their two-game weekend set on Saturday night at 5 p.m. It'll be webcast live at www.canadawest.tv.