REGINA, Sask. – The Regina Cougars rode a late opening quarter surge opening up a double-digit lead and never looked back handing the UBC Thunderbirds an 85-70 loss in game one of the best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport Thursday night.

The duo of Kyanna Giles and Charlotte Kot again led the way for the Cougars. Giles tied for a game high with 20 points, led all players with seven assists, and also pulled down six rebounds while Kot added 19 points and six rebounds in the win.

The Cougars used a quick 10-0 run over two minutes late in the first quarter to build up a double-digit lead, a surge that was capped by one of Sara Hubenig's three triples in the opening period. Regina led 24-13 after one and held a double-digit lead for almost the remainder of the game.

The Cougars went ahead by 23 points midway through the third quarter and while UBC scored the next 12 points to get back to within 11, the visiting Thunderbirds weren't able to get any closer.



Three other Cougars hit double figures in scoring besides Giles and Kot. Hubenig finished with 12 points – all from three-point land – while Christina McCusker also scored 12 and Carolina Goncalves added 10 points. Hubenig also had a team-leading seven rebounds and five assists for the U of R.

Maddison Penn was 6-for-11 from the field including 3-for-4 from three-point range and led UBC with 20 points. Penn also had seven rebounds while Keylyn Filewich had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double.

The T-Birds shot 41.7 percent from the field compared to Regina's 43.8 percent. Both teams finished with 39 combined rebounds but UBC committed 19 turnovers to the Cougars' eight.

The series continues on Friday night at the CKHS with a 5:00 p.m. PT tipoff. The Cougars will be attempting to book an early ticket to next weekend's Canada West semifinals, while UBC will try to force a third and deciding game which would be played on Saturday.