The University of Regina’s Cougars women’s basketball team captured their third Canada West title Friday night, defeating the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 75-55.
The Cougars squad has settled for silver at the West final for the past two seasons, and hasn’t come home with a banner since 2013.
"Everyone hates losing championship games, so we knew that that was behind us, we wanted to get going and win this,” Cougars guard Kyanna Giles said.
“I've been thinking of this moment since the last time the last one ended,” Cougars fifth-year forward Charlotte Kot said.
The Cougars got out to a 12-point lead in the first half, and hung on to beat the Huskies by 20 points.
Kot put up 14 points and nabbed five rebounds for Regina in her final conference championship.
“Well I've got no more chances after this so I'm trying to finish on top feeling at my best and I definitely do right now,” Kot said.
The Cougars were looking for redemption after falling to Saskatoon in the past two Canada West championships. The players also said they could feel the energy of the packed crowd behind them.
“It's really nice, like they get us going, they feel our energy, and it just gets us going more, so having that support is huge,” Giles said.
Regina captured the Canada West title just a week before they host the National Championships, March 8-11. The USports National tournament draw has not been released yet, but with the win, the Cougars will have the higher seed than the Huskies, and the two teams could meet again.
-With files from a report by Claire Hanna
