(By University of Regina Sports Information)

REGINA - The University of Regina's women's basketball team is moving on to the Canada West semifinals after an 81-60 win over Victoria on Friday night in the second game of a best-of-three conference quarter-final series at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Friday's game followed a similar script to the series opener, which saw the two teams close at the half before the Cougars took over following the break. Regina led 33-30 at halftime, but closed the third on 10-2 run and went on a massive 17-2 run in the fourth to end any hope of a Victoria comeback.

"It's a dangerous way to play," Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said after his team again had a slow start before coming on strong late in the game. "A, it can kill your coach. And B, against top-end teams you can be down too much so you're always playing with fire and we've got to stop doing that."

Five different Cougars scored in double figures, led by Kyanna Giles with 18 points. Macaela Crone and Christina McCusker both had 12 points, while Carolina Goncalves added 11 and Faith Reid scored 10. Giles and Crone both pulled down 10 rebounds to finish with double-doubles, while Angela Bongomin almost joined them with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Aleah Ashlee had a team-high 20 points for Victoria, while Amira Giannattasio wrapped up a sensational five-year career with the Vikes with a 10-point effort.

The Cougars will now await their semifinal opponent, which will be whichever team emerges out of the Calgary/UNBC quarter-final. Calgary leads that series 1-0 after an 81-58 win over the Timberwolves on Friday night.

NOTES: The Cougars have now won 20 consecutive games over Victoria in Regina in a streak that began way back in 1970 ... Friday marked the fifth time in the last nine years that Victoria's season ended with a loss to the Cougars.