Just when it looked like the UNBC Timberwolves might be on their way to advancing to the third round of the women’s basketball playoffs for the first time in their 10-year Canada West Conference history, the Regina Cougars decided that wasn’t going to happen
Not on their watch.
They ended the T-wolves’ season with 77-66 victory Saturday in Round 2 of the single elimination tournament in Calgary, a game that included eight lead changes and was closer than the score would indicate.
Outscored 21-9 in the final quarter, a T-wolves team that took just 10 personal fouls in the first 30 minutes had six to deal with in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. They gave the Cougars too many free passes to the foul line and their lack of finish around the net late in the game proved their undoing.
Rookie Czech import Julia Vydrova, who averaged eight points per game for Regina during the season, hit for 22 points and had eight rebounds, while Jade Belmore achieved the double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Faith Reid also had a 14-point game and Cara Misskey collected 12 points.
Sveta Boykova had 15 points and nine rebounds to stoke the UNBC offence. Alina Shakirova, named earlier this week to the Canada West second all-star team, also sank 15 points. Sarah Kuklisin picked up 11 points and Emma vanBruinessen hauled in 11 rebounds in her final Canada West game.
"We were just wanting to play fast,” said Vydrova. “They had a game yesterday, they were tired.
"That was our game. Play fast. Get fouls. Get open shots. We have very good offence, but the defence was very bad in the third quarter and they scored over 20 points.”
Led by Boykova’s six-foot-two presence, the T-wolves hit their stride early in the second half. Held to just five points in the opening 20 minutes, she won most of her loose-ball battles and scored 12 points in a dominant third quarter while her team outscored Regina 25-17 to gain a 57-56 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
But they could not sustain it. Too many missed shots and a steady stream of Cougars heading to the foul line in that final quarter, coupled with Reid’s hot shooting hand put the game out of reach.
"I think this was one of our most consistent games. We worked hard from start to finish,” said Kuklisin. "People were crashing the boards, hustling for loose balls. The effort was there and I am so proud of my team.”
Although they hit 22 of 27 free throws, the T-wolves shot only 33 per cent from the field (20-for-60) and their three-point shooting (4-for-19) was not accurate enough to bail them out.
“It was really competitive and challenging and physical,” said Shakirova, who finished second in the league scoring race, averaging 18.5 points per game. “I think we missed a couple open shots (in the fourth quarter). We didn’t get fouled as much and that made a difference.
“We had a very good season and I think everyone stepped up in the playoffs. We lost today but we gave a good battle, we left it all out so it's not like we gave up. We battled. We tried our best. We worked. I think everyone deserves to look at it and say, yeah we did a good job."
After a first-possession three from Boykova, the T-wolves stumbled early and trailed by six after one quarter but their near-perfect foul shooting and some aggressive drives to the net that forced the Cougars out of their comfort zone kept them close. Reid’s back-to-back threes late in the second quarter was the reason the Cougars headed to the locker room leading 39-32.
The T-wolves put on a rebounding show with 72 boards in their 87-60 win Friday over the Brandon Bobcats, who went 0-16 this season. The Cougars, who ended up third in the East with an 8-8 record, good enough to draw a first-round bye, were a much more formidable obstacle.
Regina will take on the Alberta Pandas in the third round, Sunday afternoon in Calgary.
A young T-wolves team loses just two players to graduation – vanBruinessen and guard Lucy Guan – and there should be plenty to build on for head coach Sergey Shchepotkin, whose undersized team went 8-10 in the regular season and finished fourth in the West.
