The University of Regina's women's basketball team returns to the hardcourt this weekend to host the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The Cougars, who were ranked No. 3 in the first CIS Top Ten of the season earlier this week, roll into Friday's contest with a 2-0 record after sweeping Brandon last weekend.

Head coach Dave Taylor spread the minutes around his 12-player roster during the weekend, as every Cougar averaged between 12 and 22 minutes played in the two games. Joanna Zalesiak led the Cougars in both points (31) and assists (13), while Vanessa Wesolowski piled up 30 points including a career-high 17 on Saturday.

Newcomers Anne Mercer (Lethbridge College) and Jennilea Coppola (Dr. Martin LeBoldus HS) both had 18 rebounds for the weekend, with 16 of Coppola's boards coming in Friday's game alone.

Lethbridge comes into the game with a 2-2 record, as the Pronghorns have recorded weekend splits with both Trinity Western and Calgary this season. Fifth-year guard Becky Heninger leads Lethbridge with an average of 16 points per game, while rookie post Kimberley Veldman (Immanuel Christian HS) has come off the bench to pull down a team-high 25 rebounds through the Pronghorns' first four contests.

The two teams played four times last season, with the Cougars winning all four meetings including two straight home victories in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series.

Lethbridge will host Saskatchewan (2-2) next weekend, while the Cougars will hit the road for the first time in the conference schedule and will face Trinity Western (1-3) in Langley, B.C.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Friday night and 1:15 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

NOTES: The Cougars hold a 14-5 all-time advantage in conference games, are 4-1 against Lethbridge in the postseason, and have won eight consecutive games over the Pronghorns … The 106 points scored in the team's 69-point win last Friday night against Brandon stand as the third highest single-game total in school history and the most the Cougars have scored in a game since Feb. 4, 2000.