Calgary, ALTA. — The Mount Royal University Cougars women's basketball team suited up for a rematch against the University of Alberta Pandas on Saturday night at Kenyon Court. While the game was a close contest throughout the entire 40 minutes, the Pandas earned a weekend sweep over the Cougars, 67-59.

The Pandas wasted no time to push the pace as Reece Hall knocked down an in-transition layup to start the first quarter. But the following points would be scored at the free throw line, where Hall earned 1 of her shots and Claire Signatovich scored both of hers. Jenessa Ramsoomair also put the Cougars on the board after scoring both shots at the charity stripe, 5-2 for the Pandas. Coming off an inbound play, Nora Luca splashed her first triple to tie up the game, 7-7. Annacy Palmer immediately scored a quick 2 points upon checking in. Then, Morgan Harris hit a wide open corner three after a Cougars error in transition. It became stagnant on both offenses as both teams would only shoot at the free throw line until Jayden Tanner decided to ignite some energy for the Pandas in the final seconds of the first. Tanner's three-pointer would send the Pandas with an 8 point lead to start the second quarter, 16-8.

Tanner returned to deliver another triple after having an open look behind the arc, 19-8. A quick release inside the key led to Harris picking another 2 points, then drawing the Cougars timeout.  A steal from Hayley Lalor for the finish from Maddy Hooper, keeping the Cougars to trail by 11 points.  Tanner scored her third triple to extend the Pandas lead to 12 points, 24-12. With a second MRU timeout, Ramsoomair immediately drew the contact and finished with two points at the free throw line. Asha Donelly fouled on a 3-point attempt but would score all 3 shots at the line, 24-17. Jenika Martens found herself in foul trouble after picking up her third personal foul late into the quarter. Signatovich scored a free throw and a jump shot to keep the Pandas with a 10 point lead. However, Luca responded by finishing the second quarter with a layup, closing out the second quarter with a score of 29-21 for the Pandas.

Ramsoomair scored a baseline jumper over the heads of a Pandas defender, chipping away the Cougars deficit down to 6 points. Being left wide open in the corner again, Harris knocked her second triple in similar fashion to her first one in the first quarter. This play drew the Cougars timeout. The Cougars found success afterwards as Martens picked up an offensive board and drew the contact while going up. Martens scored both of her attempts at the free throw line. Soon after, Martens and Donelly scored three pointers of their own to bring the Cougars within 4 points, 36-32 still for the Pandas. Martens rang in her second triple of the night but Signatovich, Harris, and Hall responded with a 6-point offense run, keeping it to a 7 point game 42-35. Temi Ajayi concluded the Cougars scoring with a quick shot into the rim after being left alone in the paint. Then, Hall earned a trip to the charity stripe with 1.6 seconds left, only scoring on her first FT attempt.

Palmer connected to Signatovich down low for a quick 2 points after a Pandas inbound, 45-38. While H. Lalor and Tanner exchanged layups, Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma scored her first three to extend the Pandas with a 10 point lead, 50-40. The Pandas picked up 3 back-to-back fouls which set up Hooper for the corner three. But Hall returned on the other end of the court to answer with a triple of her own, 53-43. Palmer then earned a couple of trips to the line but only scored two out of four attempts. After Palmer missed on the last attempt, Signatovich picked up the offensive rebound and eventually found Tanner for one more three point shot. This would push the Pandas up with a 16 point lead, 61-45. Unfortunately, Harris checked out of the game with a little over 2 minutes left in the game after taking some contact while bringing up the ball. Rylee Semeniuk would place Harris' place on the court and at the free throw line as the Cougars had already entered bonus. Semeniuk was successful on both attempts, 65-46. H. Lalor knocked down a 3 pointer, while her sister J. Lalor scored on a layup shortly after. Later on, Donelly scored her second triple and Alexis Evans cashed in on a 3-point play after heading to the line on a successful layup. Even with Ajayi's last second efforts down low, the Pandas would walk away with the 67-59 win on Saturday night.

This marks the final home game of the 2024-2025 regular season for the Cougars women's basketball team. The Cougars celebrate four graduating players tonight: Hayley Lalor, Jamie Lalor, Megan Wellinghurst, and Maddy Hooper. We congratulate these 4 players on their accomplishments and contributions to MRU Athletics Department, both on and off the court. We also wish the very best for their future endeavours. 

The Cougars will finish the regular season on the road in Winnipeg to face the University of Manitoba Bisons on February 14th and 15th.