Josh Tevlin; Dinos Communications
CALGARY – A 52-point second half for the Regina Cougars led them to a sweep of the Calgary Dinos on the opening weekend of the 2018-19 Canada West women's basketball season, taking an 85-75 win Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.
Regina improves to 2-0 with the victory, while the Dinos fall to 0-2 after the setback.
The Cougars embarked on a 21-point swing from the early part of the third quarter, turning an 11-point deficit into a tie game, then a 10-point victory.
"In the end they out rebounded us at pivotal moments," explained Calgary Head Coach Damian Jennings. "When you look at it from a field goal point of view, we made 29 and they made 29. But it came down to discipline, foul issues, and rebounding."
The Dinos came out strong with an entirely new starting lineup aside from guard Erin McIntosh. Contrasting the offensive performances in Friday's matchup, it was high level defense that drove Saturday's battle. Calgary held Regina to 2-12 three-point shooting in the first half, leading 39-33 going into the half time break.
The opening quarter proved to be the Dinos' most successful. A staggering five team steals and an early scoring run by Sascha Lichtenwald, who finished with 19 points, helped Calgary secure a 20-16 lead going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter of play the Dinos continued to outperform the Cougars. Strong defense kept the Cougars to just 36 per cent field goal shooting. More specifically, the Dinos kept Cougars star Kyanna Giles to just three points in the first half.
The reigning Canada West champs took over in the second half of the game. Not only did the Cougars outscore the Dinos, but they dominated Calgary in the rebound category as well. Regina out rebounded Calgary 26-13 in the second half.
It became the Faith Reid show in the fourth quarter. Reid knocked down five threes in the fourth while leading her Cougars to the 10-point victory. With a silenced Kyanna Giles, Reid stepped up and made a huge impact late in this game.
The Dinos' Sascha Lichtenwald finished the game with 19 points on 50 per cent field goal shooting while defensively, Liene Stalidzane and Reyna Crawford added 3 steals each.
For the Cougars, Reid ended with 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Kyanna Giles finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Dinos will look to regroup as they head into a home-and-home series next week against the University of Alberta Pandas, beginning Thursday night in the Jack Simpson Gym. Regina, meanwhile, heads home to welcome the Trinity Western Spartans to the CKHS Friday and Saturday nights.
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Photo by David Moll