LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by fourth-year guard Jayden Gill's (Abbotsford, B.C.) 20 points, and eight assists the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the No. 10 Regina Cougars 64-55 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win moves the Spartans to 3-0 in Canada West play, while the loss drops the Cougars to 0-1.
The Spartans led 38-28 at the half.

In addition to Gill, the Spartans had strong performances from third-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) with 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and fourth-year guard Hailey Van Roekel (Langley, B.C.) with 11 points, and six rebounds. Dayna Pearce with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Jade Belmore with 17 points, and 12 rebounds led the Cougars.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans, who led from start to finish jumped out to an early 17-11 lead after the opening quarter.

TWU extended their lead to 12 points, 23-11, but Regina came on strong and used a 16-5 run to cut the Spartans lead to one-point, 27-28, with 2:13 remaining in the half. It was as close as the Cougars would get as TWU outscored Regina 10-1 to take a 38-28 lead into the break.

The Spartans maintained between and nine and a 14-point lead for the third quarter and went into the final frame with a nine-point 51-42 lead.

The two teams matched each other for much of a low-scoring fourth quarter as the two teams each scored 13 points to make the final a nine-point, 64-55, TWU win.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"We had a really good week of preparation. One of the main points we had was it had to be us versus them and not individual matchups or individual player-focused. I thought that we moved the ball really well, but understood the assignments in getting other people their best looks. Everybody who stepped onto the floor tonight was able to give the contribution that we expected from them tonight, whether it was a tipped pass, a deflection, a rebound, or a great scoring look. We are going to need to continue that trend to have success this year, where it isn't on any one person to get the job done but a group collective. And if we keep playing with that mindset we are going to be tough to play against."
 
"Every time they pushed, we were a little shaky at times, but we didn't completely lose our balance. I thought Shemaiah and Jayden did a great job when things started to get tight they were able to get us a good scoring look. Their maturity with the ball in their hands allows us to have other people on the floor with less experience. It is always going to be a good thing when they can find people for easy scoring looks and they can then finish those with confidence."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 31.3 (21-67) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-18) from the three-point line, and 73.9 percent (17-23) from the foul line, while Regina finished shooting 23.9 percent (16-67), 27.8 percent (5-18), and 72 percent (18-25) respectively.
• The Cougars outrebounded the Spartans 56-47 and had an 11-8 edge in steals.
• TWU had a 7-1 edge in blocked shots.
• Last week TWU defeated the TRU WolfPack 66-59 and 64-48 in Kamloops, B.C.
• The Spartans are currently 5-28 lifetime against the Cougars.
• TWU's last win against Regina was 56-47 on November 3, 2018 in Regina
• The Spartans' last home win against the Cougars was 83-56 on January 2, 2009

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Cougars will finish the weekend series tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre. The game can be seen live on Canadawest.TV.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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