QUICKLY
The University of Regina's women's basketball team had another impressive defensive showing on Saturday, defeating Mount Royal by a 71-53 margin in a Canada West game at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mount Royal led 19-18 after the first quarter, but the Cougars replied with a huge second period. Regina went on a 17-2 run to build up a double-digit lead, then scored eight straight points late in the quarter to help the home side take a 45-29 lead into halftime.
• Mount Royal got the lead down to 10 points midway through the third after buckets in the paint by three different players, but that was as close as MRU would come. The Cougars replied to that Mount Royal push with eight straight points of their own, and an Eden Wells triple at the buzzer sent Regina into the fourth up 62-41, the home side's largest lead of the ball game.
• The Cougars cruised to victory down the stretch, leading by at least 20 for most of the final quarter.

NOTES

• The win officially locks up a playoff berth for the Cougars. They're now assured of a spot in the Canada West postseason tournament, which will be hosted by Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C. in late February.
• Dayna Pearce was 3-for-6 from three-point range and scored a game-high 15 points for the Cougars.
• Jade Belmore added 11 points and tied for the game high with 7 rebounds while also collecting 5 assists and 4 steals.
• Cara Misskey and Rachel Vanderhooft both had nine points in the win.
• Saturday's game was a near-identical score to Friday. Regina defeated Mount Royal 71-52 in the first game of the weekend.

NEXT UP
The Cougars are on the road next Friday and Saturday for a pair of games against an Alberta team that is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation. Both teams will head into the weekend series with identical 10-4 conference records.