University of Regina Sports Information
REGINA – Kyanna Giles poured in a career-high 31 points as the University of Regina's women's basketball team took a 91-75 win over Manitoba on Friday in a rare afternoon game at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
Giles (pictured) did the majority of her damage in the first half, including a 14-point first quarter which helped the Cougars jump out to a 27-19 lead after the opening period. Giles then scored eight more in the second quarter, giving her 22 points along with six rebounds as the Cougars 52-37 at the break.
The Cougars (5-2) put the game out of reach in the back half of the third quarter, going on a 14-4 run that put them up by 25 points.
"Kyanna put constant pressure on their defence and was outstanding for us today, but we also got a great game from Christina McCusker who was critical on the offensive glass," Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said. "Manitoba plays at the fastest pace in the entire country. We did a good job of handling that today, but we'll have to do an equally good job of dealing with their pace tomorrow."
Giles also had seven rebounds to go along with her 31 points, which tops her old career high of 28 that she set last February in a postseason game against UBC. McCusker also had a career afternoon for the Cougars, scoring 15 points and adding a career-high 12 rebounds while also blocking four shots in the win.
Faith Reid added 12 points for the Cougars, while Kyia Giles scored 11 and Michaela Kleisinger flirted with a triple-double before finishing up with 10 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
Taylor Randall had a team-high 24 points for Manitoba (5-2).
Second-chance points were the difference in Friday's game. The Cougars were able to convert 23 offensive rebounds - six of which came courtesy of McCusker alone - into a 25-7 advantage in second-chance points. Manitoba was limited to just eight offensive rebounds as the Cougars enjoyed a 60-32 rebounding advantage overall.
The two teams will square off again on Saturday afternoon (4:00) at the CKHS.