Cougars focused on Canada West final
Dave Taylor, who coached the 2017-18 University of Regina Cougars to top spot in the Canada West women’s basketball standings, has another first in mind.
Taylor hopes that his team will win a conference championship at home for the first time in his 12-season tenure as the Cougars’ head coach.
The Cougars are to oppose the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a winner-take-all final Friday, 7 p.m., at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport.
Regina is to meet the Huskies in the third consecutive conference championship game, the difference being that this year’s showdown will be at home. The U of S defeated the visiting Cougars by an 11-point margin in 2016 (73-62) and 2017 (64-53).
“Playing at home is a great advantage,” Taylor said. “That’s a tough environment up there. It just makes this game a 50-50 proposition instead of somewhat worse going up there.”
The Cougars won the conference’s regular-season title with an 18-2 record. The Huskies (173) were second.
Regina was second in last week’s U Sports top-10 rankings. Saskatchewan was seventh.
The teams split two regularseason games, both of which were played in Saskatoon. On Feb. 2, the Cougars won 74-59 to clinch first place. The following evening, the Huskies won 87-82 as Taylor rested four of his starters.
“If we were on a neutral site, we’re probably very close, and here we’re close,” Taylor said of the Cougars and Huskies. “They do a good job of creating a really good environment to play in up there.
“It’s a tough environment to play in. They’ve got their football team in behind you, yelling, and you’ve got a band playing over your shoulder. Hopefully we have a loud crowd this weekend that gives us a home-court advantage.”
A victory Friday would give Taylor his second conference title as a head coach.
He guided Regina to the Canada West crown in 2013, when the Cougars prevailed in Calgary. The U of R was the host team for the final four in 2012.
Regina will be a host again beginning March 8, when the U Sports championship tournament is to begin at the CKHS.
“Everybody has been saying all year that ‘you’re in nationals,’ but we never talk about it,” Taylor said. “It’s just the way we’re built with our goals. Our goal is always to try to win Canada West and medal at nationals.”