The University of Regina's women's basketball team recovered from a disastrous opening quarter to take a 63-53 road win over Ottawa on Friday in a non-conference game at École secondaire publique Louis-Riel in Ottawa.
 
Ottawa scored the first eight points of the game before the Cougars finally got on the board just under four minutes in, and the Gee-Gees pulled even further ahead and led 25-9 after the opening 10 minutes.
 
But it was a completely different story in the second, as Kyanna Giles scored the first seven points of the quarter and the Cougars outscored Ottawa by a 19-3 margin as the two teams went into halftime knotted at 28-28. The Cougars pulled away from Ottawa in the second half, leading by five heading into the fourth and going on a key 8-0 run to take a 54-40 lead by the midway point of the final period.
 
Giles led the Cougars in both points and rebounds, finishing with 15 and 10 to collect a double-double. Carolina Goncalves scored 13 points, while Christina McCusker added 10 points and seven rebounds. Making her return to the Cougars after redshirting last season, Angela Bongomin pulled down 10 rebounds to tie Giles for the game high in that category.
 
Angela Ribarich led Ottawa with 12 points.
 
The Cougars (1-0) will take on Laval on Saturday in Ottawa in what will be a rematch of last year's quarterfinal matchup at the U SPORTS Championship in Regina.