The University of Regina's women's basketball team lost to the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 73-72 on Friday night in Winnipeg.
Wesmen guard Kyanna Giles hit a shot with 0.4 seconds left in the game to give her team the win. Winnipeg had to inbound the ball with less than a second left and drew up the perfect play to get Giles the ball under the basket. She released an unguarded layup that went off the backboard and through the basket to win the game. It was a close game all night, capped off with a wild final minute that included six turnovers.
The Cougars started slow on offense, missing five of their first six shots and putting up two points in the first four minutes. Head Coach
Dave Taylor called a timeout at the six-minute mark to get his offense back on track. That seemed to work, as the Cougars scored 14 points in the the remainder of the first quarter. The defense did their part to hold the Wesmen to eight points to keep the game close and allowed Regina to slowly claw back. Winnipeg held a narrow 18-16 lead after the opening quarter.
Winnipeg started hot in the second quarter, taking a 28-22 lead at the halfway point. Regina went on a 12-3 run the rest of the way to take a 34-31 lead into the break. Regina guard
Zoe Hartmann scored five points during that run to spark the offense.
The Cougars went on an early 15-8 run in the third quarter to take a 49-39 lead with seven minutes left in the frame. Winnipeg fought back to keep the game close, going on an 18-11 run to be down 60-57 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter, particularly the final minute, was a hectic one as Regina tried to pull off the upset. The Cougars turned the ball over with 1:15 remaining and holding onto a narrow 70-69 lead. They played tight defense to get the ball back and
Julia Vydrova hit a clutch layup to extend the Cougars lead to three with 40 seconds left in the game. Regina forced a missed three attempt from the Wesmen but did not get the rebound and Winnipeg retained possession. Giles hit a layup on the next play to make it 72-71 for Regina with 19 seconds left to play. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Cougars were called for being out of bounds and it gave Winnipeg an inbounds play right behind the Regina basket. The Wesmen were called for a five-second violation, giving the Cougars the ball once more. Regina called a timeout to advance the ball, but turned it over almost immediately after getting the ball in play. The Wesmen ran down the court but Cougars guard
Cara Misskey stole the ball back and got fouled with 3.4 seconds left. Winnipeg had three fouls to give so Regina was forced to inbound the ball rather than take free throws. Regina inbounded the ball cleanly but was fouled once again with two seconds left on the clock. The Cougars again inbounded the ball cleanly but was fouled with 0.4 left in the game. The next inbounds pass hit the back of the backboard, meaning it was out of bounds, resulting in a Winnipeg inbounds attempt with no time off the clock. That was when Giles hit the game-winning shot to conclude the dramatic game.
Regina will get another chance at an upset as both teams are back at it tonight, at 6 p.m., in Winnipeg.
