Cougars hope experience helps them discover gold
Mar. 5, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
As they prepared for the Canada West Final Four, the University of Regina Cougars took comfort knowing they've been down this road before.
Mind you, so has every other team in the women's basketball tournament.
The Cougars are in the conference championship event for the third straight season and for the fifth time since 2004. Regina opens the tournament in Burnaby, B.C., tonight against the Alberta Pandas, after the Saskatchewan Huskies and host Simon Fraser Clan meet in the other semifinal.
"It's a complete advantage (having been to the Final Four before)," Cougars head coach Dave Taylor said. "But you have to put it in perspective. Alberta is at its fourth straight Final Four, Saskatchewan is at its second straight, and Simon Fraser has been there in every year of (the Final Four's) existence (eight years).
"(Having previous experience) is an advantage over not having experience. But what I do think is an advantage for this team is we have a good understanding of the importance of winning on Friday night. All of the other teams have lost that Friday game before."
In the past three seasons, Simon Fraser lost to the Friday game Alberta in '07 and to Regina in '08, Alberta fell to the UBC Thunderbirds in 2008 and to the Clan in '09, and the Huskies were beaten by the Cougars in '09.
Regina, meanwhile, has won Friday to reach the gold-medal game in each of its four previous Final Four appearances. The Cougars beat UBC in the '04 conference final before losing to Simon Fraser in '05, UBC in '08 and the Clan in '09.
"We know a bit about making it (to the Final Four) and how important that first game is," said fifth-year Cougars guard Stacey Walker. "If we win (tonight), we can relax a bit Saturday and enjoy it.
"We're going there to win the gold, of course; we're not just going to be happy with winning (tonight). But in past years, Saturday has a more relaxed feel. You know you've made it (to the CIS tournament)."
All three medallists at the Final Four advance to the CIS event, March 12-14 in Hamilton. That's why a victory tonight over Alberta is so important.
"Dave put it in perspective for us," Walker said. "If Alberta wins and Saskatchewan wins, we'd be playing Simon Fraser at their home to get to nationals. That's not a position we want to be in."
"We talk all the time about winning Friday nights," added Taylor, whose squad went 8-3 in series openers during the regular season and in its quarterfinal against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. "It was all based on getting to the Final Four and instilling that mentality. When we talk about winning Friday, they've heard that all year."
The Cougars are 3-0 against Alberta this season, winning 70-57 in the pre-season and 68-64 and 80-68 in their regular-season meetings.
"In the past few years, they've run the same system, so we're familiar with their offence," Walker said. "We don't feel they're going to surprise us. We know what we have to do to beat them."
That involves getting the ball inside to post Brittany Read, who averaged 20 points per game in the teams' regular-season contests. The Cougars also must overcome their propensity to be inconsistent, especially to start games.
"We've had stretches where the wheels fall off," Taylor admitted. "You know that first quarter we had against Lethbridge (in Saturday's Game 2)? If we're down 23-11 to Alberta, we're not going to win."