A big second half propelled the No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds to a 66-52 win over the Regina Cougars on Saturday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on campus at the University of Regina.

The Cougars actually led by five at halftime, but UBC outscored the Cougars by a 25-10 margin in the third quarter to take the lead for good. The Cougars cut the lead down into single digits with three-pointers on two occasions in the fourth, but could draw no closer and fall to 12-6 on the year with the loss.

Kris Young led all players with 26 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double for the Thunderbirds, who improve their Canada West record to 15-3 with the weekend sweep. Cassandra Knievel added 10 points for UBC, while Adrienne Parkin followed up her 21-point performance on Friday with nine in Saturday's win.

Jennilea Coppola had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars to register the lone double-double of the game, while Charlotte Kot matched her with 14 points. Katie Polischuk finished with 13 points, 12 of which came on her game-high four triples.

The teams traded leads four times in the first quarter before the Cougars held UBC scoreless for five minutes of game time late in the first and early in the second, and scored 10 points of their own during that time to build up a double-digit lead two minutes into the second quarter. But a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer by Knievel brought the Thunderbirds to within five at the break and set the tone for the second half.

UBC went on a game-changing 13-2 run in the third quarter, a run that included two baskets by Kara Spotton and a short jumper and a three-pointer by Young. That put UBC up by eight, and the Cougars never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

UBC remains tied with Saskatchewan atop the Pioneer Division, and should the teams remain tied for the division lead after the conference schedule ends next weekend – both will be heavily favoured with UBC hosting Manitoba and Saskatchewan at home to Calgary – UBC would take the tiebreaker over Saskatchewan thanks to its win over Alberta earlier this season.

The Cougars will be tied for fourth in the division with Winnipeg if the Wesmen can complete the weekend road sweep over Trinity Western on Saturday night. Regina and Winnipeg close out the Canada West schedule next Friday and Saturday at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.

NOTES: Saturday was Senior Night at the CKHS ... the Cougars honoured UBC graduating players Young and Harleen Sidhu as well as their own fifth-year players, Coppola and Taylor Pelletier (pictured).