SASKATOON — Hot shooting in the fourth quarter was the difference for the Winnipeg Wesmen on Saturday night, as they defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 77-64 on Ron & Jane Centre Court at the PAC.

The visitors led by two through three, but they outscored the Huskies 23-12 to in the fourth quarter to ultimately record the 13-point victory. Faith Hezekiah's three-pointer with 4:25 remaining in the contest proved to be the dagger, as she increased the Winnipeg lead to ten — a deficit that in the end was insurmountable for Saskatchewan.

Our defence let us down. We gave up too many second chance points to them and we'll have to clean some things up at both ends of the floor," said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis.

Kyanna Giles' game-high 22 points led the way for the Wesmen, while Anna Kernaghan, Keylyn Filewich, Hezekiah all hit double-digit scoring. Giles and Filewich hauled in 11 and 14 boards apiece, as the pair of upperclassmen each recorded double-doubles on the evening. 

For the second-straight night, Carly Ahlstrom led the way for the green-and-white, as she recorded a team-high 16 points, while hailing in 10 boards for the double-double. 

Saskatchewan went 4-8 from long range in the opening half, a big reason why they held a six-point lead at recess. But they cooled off in the second half, connecting on just two of their 14 attempts from downtown in the final 20 minutes of play.

The Huskies and Wesmen each finished the regular-season with matching 14-2 records. Entering the night Saskatchewan had the opportunity to lock up first-place in the Canada West, as long as they did not lose by 20 points, so it was mission accomplished in that sense for Thomaidis and company, despite the loss.

The contest served as the final regular-season game for Epoch, Masikewich, Janaya Brown, Claudia Lomba Viana and Erin Kehrig, who were all honoured for their contributions to the program following the game.

"They've just meant so much to this program. They've brought so much success to our team and to the university. It's really hard to think about them not being here next season," said Thomaidis. 

"Knowing the end of this night was our fifth year ceremony, there was no bad outcome tonight for us," said Epoch.

The Huskies and Wesmen will both be back in action in two weeks time, for the Canada West Playoff, which will whittle 17 teams down to four. From there, the highest-remaining seed will play host to the Canada West Final Four.

Saskatchewan will enter the Canada West Playoff as the number-one seed and will play the winner between the eight and nine-seed.

"We've been there, we've done that. We've played on the biggest stage and played well on the biggest stage. So it's just a matter of getting back out there and exerting some of the experience," said Thomaidis, when asked about the postseason run ahead.