“Regina is the strongest team we’ve matched up against this season,” said Lancer head coach Chantal Vallée, seen in a March 2010 file photo.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Windsor Lancers have won their third straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's basketball championship.
Miah-Marie Langlois had 18 points and nine rebounds as the Lancers defeated the University of Regina Cougars 66-57 on Sunday.
Regina trailed by 14 points before mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter, going on a 6-0 run and another 5-0 run capped by a Lindsay Ledingham three-pointer brought the home team to within four with 1:27 left.
But Ledingham's three would be the Cougars' last bucket of the game as Windsor's defence clamped down.
Laura Mullins and Korissa Williams both scored 12 for Windsor and Jessica Clemencon had 11 points and 11 rebounds to collect the lone double-double of the game.
"Regina is the strongest team we've matched up against this season," said Lancer head coach Chantal Vallée. "Building that 10-point lead in the third really made a difference, and I am so proud of the team for what they have accomplished this year."
Ledingham and Michelle Clark both had 16 points for the Cougars.
The teams started out with a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the two teams stay within four points the entire period. The first real run of the game for either team happened over a four-minute stretch late in the second quarter, when Windsor reeled off 11 consecutive points to turn what had been a one-point lead into a 34-22 advantage.
The Cougars chipped that lead down to five at one point in the third, but another Windsor run saw the Lancers score the final six points of the half to give the visitors a 14-point advantage, their largest lead of the game.
After Ledingham's three pulled the Cougars to within four, Williams – who was named the CIS championship MVP – scored a bucket to put Windsor back up by six.
Clark had a chance to get the Cougars to within one possession with a three, but it was no good and three free throws by Windsor in the last 20 seconds of the game secured the title.