As host team of the 2018 U Sports women’s basketball championship in March, the University of Regina Cougars must have thought they were doing everything right in their preparations for the tournament which will involve themselves and seven of the best teams in the country.
Heading into the Northern Sport Centre gym Saturday with an unblemished 5-0 record, the Cougars were blindsided when the UNBC Timberwolves – the same team they beat by 35 points on Friday – wiped away that mark of perfection.
The T-wolves beat Regina 81-79, finishing the game on a 10-0 run that erased an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes.
Maria Mongomo was an unstoppable force triggering one of the biggest upsets of the season so far in the Canada West conference. The third-year UNBC forward collected 33 points and 10 rebounds and supplied the three-point jumper with 50 seconds left which gave the T-wolves the lead.
Vasiliki Louka had an 18-point, 14-rebound game for UNBC and Madison Landry finished with 13 points and six assists. Kyanna Giles paced the Cougars with 19 points and seven rebounds.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” said T-wolves head coach Sergey Shchepotkin. “They played for each other. They played as a team. They played with energy. We can play with any team.”
Trailing 46-35 at the half, the T-wolves smothered their opponents in the third quarter, outscoring Regina 22-7. Mongomo contributed 13 of those third-quarter points.
“She is very important to us,” said Shchepotkin. “She showed great leadership, and when she does that, she is a great player.”
Landry got UNBC started on the comeback trail, hitting a jump shot with 1:48 left, and Alina Shakirova followed up with a three-point play and made two foul shots, setting up Mongomo’s dramatic finish.
The win bumped the T-wolves’ record to 3-5, while Regina dropped to 5-1.
In the men’s game later Saturday at the NSC, Regina walked off the court with a 96-88 win over UNBC.
Regina built a 42-25 lead by the end of the first half. Each team scored 31 in the third quarter and with both teams going to their benches in the final quarter, UNBC outscored Regina 32-23 in the final 10 minutes.
James Agyeman finished with a team-high 24 points for the T-wolves, while newcomer Jovan Leamy also had a strong game with 23 points and six rebounds. Shawn Lathan and Shaquille Harris each finished with 18 points for the Cougars.
“Last night, they made mistakes late that we were able to take advantage of,” said Cougars guard Alex Igual, who picked up 16 points. “In this game, we made the mistakes, but we were lucky enough to get the win.”
Regina improved to 5-1, while UNBC’s record fell to 2-6. Regina scored an 80-76 win over the T-wolves at the NSC on Friday.
“We are a lot better than we’ve shown recently,” said UNBC guard Nolan Hanson. “Once we start believing, stuff starts happening. We just want to bring a spark to help our team, and in situations like that you can get momentum. It just wasn’t enough to pull off a run.”
