BRIEFLY
The Cougars open up the U SPORTS Final 8 against a team they've never faced in the championship side of the national tournament bracket, as they'll square off with Ottawa on Thursday night at Ryerson University's Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. Regina heads into this game after falling to Saskatchewan in the Canada West championship game last Friday, while Ottawa suffered a similar fate to McMaster in the OUA title game on Saturday.
AGAINST THE GEE-GEES
Though the two teams have never met on the championship side of the bracket, they did play in the consolation semifinals of the 2005 event in Winnipeg. Ottawa took that meeting by a 66-64 score and went on to defeat Guelph in the consolation final for a fifth-place finish.
EARLIER THIS YEAR
The Cougars actually opened their 2018-19 season against Ottawa, registering a 63-53 road win over the Gee-Gees in a game which featured lineups that will bear little resemblance to the upcoming quarterfinal. Ottawa was missing OUA first-team all-star Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus, while the U of R's leading scorer that game was now-injured all-star guard
Kyanna Giles.
IN THE 4/5 GAME
The Cougars are the No. 5 seed for the second time in the past three years and are in the 4/5 game for the third time in the past four. They were also seeded No. 5 in 2017 (72-62 loss to McGill in Victoria) and were the No. 4 seed in 2016 (73-70 loss to Ryerson in Fredericton).
INJURY UPDATE 1
Kyanna Giles was named a Canada West all-star for the third time in as many seasons for the U of R, earning first-team honours after leading the Cougars in scoring, rebounding and steals during the regular season. But she suffered an injury last Friday during the third quarter of the Canada West title game at Saskatchewan, and won't be in the lineup for the U of R this weekend.
INJURY UPDATE 2
Kyia Giles, twin sister of Kyanna, also suffered an injury this postseason. She was hurt in the team's second semifinal game against Calgary two weekends ago, missed last Friday's conference title game against Saskatchewan, and will be considered a game-time decision for Thursday's quarterfinal.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The Cougars are making their fourth consecutive U SPORTS Final 8 appearance, their 10th in 13 seasons under head coach
Dave Taylor, their 16th in the past 22 seasons, and their 20th in program history.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Second-year guard
Carolina Goncalves played for Portugal at the U16 level in 2013, at the U18 level in 2014 and 2015, and at the U20 level in 2016 and 2017 and has continued to accrue international experience at the senior level over the past 16 months. She has been on Portugal's senior national team's roster for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019 qualifying games, travelling to be with the team for two games apiece in November of 2017 and in November of 2018. Goncalves played in three of those contests, getting into games against Greece, Israel, and Great Britain.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE, TAKE TWO
Second-year players
Angela Bongomin and
Macaela Crone both have experience representing Canada. Crone helped Team Canada to gold at the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, while Bongomin won a silver at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and bronze at the 2017 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup. Bongomin also played in the 2017 U24 Women Basketball League Four Nations (Tokyo, Japan) and at the 2017 Summer Universiade (Taipei, Taiwan) with the Development Women's National Team.
