REGINA – A massive second quarter was the difference as the University of Regina's women's basketball team took an 84-55 win over Trinity Western on Sunday afternoon at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

After losing by 36 to the Cougars on Saturday night, TWU got out to a better start on Sunday and trailed just 17-14 after the opening quarter. But Regina exploded in the second, scoring the first 13 points of the period on a run that featured a pair of three-pointers by Caitlin Zacharias and another by Katie Polischuk.

The Cougars ended up outscoring TWU by a 32-9 margin in the second to take a 49-23 lead into the break. After that, they never led by fewer than 25 points.

Polischuk was 4-for-8 from three-point range and finished with a game-high 20 points. Three other Cougars hit double figures in scoring, including Alyssia Kajati with 14 points, Charlotte Kot with 13, and Zacharias with 11. Kajati missed only one shot in the win, finishing 6-for-7 from the field.

Kristin Ford (Okotoks, Alta.) came off the bench to lead Trinity Western with 11 points for the second consecutive game. Tessa Ratzlaff (Abbotsford, B.C.) added 10 points, while both Jessie Brown (Langley, B.C.) and Natalie Carkner (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) scored eight.

As a team, the Cougars shot 57 per cent from the field overall and were 58 per cent from the three-point line alone, hitting 11 of their 19 attempts from the perimeter. The win improves Regina's Canada West record to 9-1 on the season.

"Today was an improvement in many aspects from yesterday's game," said Spartans coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "Regina shot the lights out in that second quarter and that was somewhat devastating, but I am really proud of how hard the team played and how committed they were to learning from a great team in the second half. We have some younger players that can look at their older players and develop the same tenacity that it takes to be a top team in Canada West. We have two weeks to now prepare for the last stretch of our season and will continue to move forward."

The Spartans (3-7) remain just outside of the Canada West playoff picture, as they sit in eighth place and are one game back of UBC for the final Pioneer Division postseason berth. TWU has next weekend off before hosting four consecutive home games, as they'll play Calgary on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23 and then welcome Brandon to town the following weekend.

Game Notes: Regina now has a 20-2 record in Canada West games against Trinity Western since the series started in 1999.

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