CIAU title cemented Cougars as legends in Regina

The Cougars raise the CIAU championship banner in 2001.

For the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team, the 2001 Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union championship game was going to be fun.

After getting past the University of Calgary Dinos 71-67 in an all-time classic in one tournament semifinal clash, the Cougars settled in to watch the host University of Alberta Pandas take on the Queen’s University Golden Gaels. The Pandas posted a solid 70-62 victory in the main gym at the Van Vliet Complex on the U of A campus in front of a raucous crowd.

As the final seconds of the Pandas semifinal win ticked away, the Cougars players looked at each other taking note of the atmosphere in the building. Then, a light went on.

Heather (Dedman) McMurray drives the lane for the Cougars.

The Cougars realized the national final was going to be your classic road game against a hostile crowd. When they stepped into the U of A main gym for the national final, the Cougars knew they were going to be the outlaws.

Nobody in the building was going to want them to win. After that tidbit was brought up, everyone smiled.

To be fair, the Cougars were going to be back by a sizable contingent of supporters. When the 2001 CIAU championship game was played, at least 300 out of the standing room crowd of 2,750 spectators were backing the Regina side.

Corrin Wersta, right, was one of the Cougars top players.

In the Saskatchewan capital, the Cougars women’s basketball team had risen to the status of being one of Regina’s most popular teams.

In 2001, you could argue the Cougars status was at the same level of the University of Regina Rams football team, who fell 42-39 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the Vanier Cup in December of 2000, and the WHL’s Regina Pats, who were going to host the Memorial Cup in May of 2001.

In 1993, Christine Stapleton, who helped the Laurentian University Lady Vees win back-to-back CIAU titles in 1990 and 1991 as a player, became the Cougars head coach and took on the massive task on rebuilding a proud program that has fallen on hard times.

Crystal (Heisler) McGregor drive up court in the 2001 CIAU final.

Stapleton and her Lady Vees met the Cougars in the 1991 CIAU final and posted a 79-72 victory in overtime. After that game, the Cougars slipped to the status of struggling program.

Arriving in Regina, Stapleton realized the talent existed in Saskatchewan to rebuild the Cougars. She was tenacious recruiter who was able to befriend players and show a genuine interest in their lives.

Stapleton was able to find talented players who were good character persons as well. When Stapleton had to deliver a message that something wasn’t good enough, the players understood where it came from and were motivated to get better.

Phoebe (De Ciman) Haugen had 13 points in the 2001 CIAU final.

The odd time, Stapleton had to give the suck it up and get tough speech. When time came she had to deliver those words, you knew she was right and where she was coming from.

Overall, Stapleton genuinely cared for her players, and the players knew their coach was always in their corner.

On the court, the Cougars played an exciting brand of basketball, where they tried to run their foes out of the gym and burn out the lights on the scoreboard.

Defensively, the Cougars played man defence most of the time mixing in a bit of a 1-3-1 press. The players were so good at one-on-one defence that it became very frustrating to the opposition.

Cougars HC Christine Stapleton call out directions from the bench.

In the 1996-97 campaign, the Cougars made it to first in the CIAU Top 10 rankings for the first time under Stapleton’s watch. They became a powerhouse from that point onwards.

In most games from that point in time, Stapleton just had to turn her team loose and offered encouragement and made adjustments with a smile. She also surrounded herself with great assistant coaches in Diane Hilko and Dave Taylor, which help keep everything moving forward.

All over Regina, hoops started to go up on driveways outside of houses as little girls started to take up the sport to be like the Cougars. 

Cymone (Bouchard) Bernauer, right, drives up court for the Cougars.

It was common after home games playing in the cramped Physical Activity Centre for the Cougars players to be swamped outside of their dressing room by little girls looking for autographs.

The Cougars obtained celebrity status in “The Queen City.”

While the Cougars reached big heights, they still had to work their way through baby steps when they started appearing at the CIAU elite-eight national championship tournament. The Cougars got nationals under Stapleton’s watch for the first time in 1998 and finished fourth.

The Cougars bench looks on intently during the 2001 CIAU final.

A fifth place finish followed in 1999 before the Cougars captured a bronze medal at the 2000 tournament, which was also hosted at U of A. In the 2000 bronze medal game, the Cougars downed the host Pandas 66-53, so they knew what to expect in the 2001 CIAU final against that same foe.

In finally getting to the CIAU title game, the Cougars weren’t going to be denied. They had too much experience, athleticism and heart.

The Cougars had stars like fifth-year forward Corrin Wersta was the CIAU player of the year for women’s basketball in 1998-99 and sophomore forward Cymone (Bouchard) Bernauer would capture that same honour in 2003-04.

Bree Burgess (#8) had 11 points in the 2001 CIAU final.

Overall, the Cougars had the best depth they ever had in team history in the 2000-01 campaign.

On Sunday, March 11, 2001, the Cougars stepped into the main gym at the U of A and downed the host Pandas 94-85.

The Pandas started the contest jumping out to a 4-0.

The Cougars proceeded to go on an 11-0 run to take an 11-4 advantage and never looked back from that point. U of R’s advantage grew to 50-39 at halftime before settling out at the 94-85 final.

Becky (Poley) Schutz pulls down a rebound in the 2001 CIAU final.

For a lot of the clash, the Cougars held a lead of nine or 10 points.

The 94 points the Cougars scored is still a record for most points scored in a CIAU women’s basketball final. In the present day, the CIAU is now known as U Sports.

In the 2001 national championship game win, seven members of the Cougars hit double digits in scoring.

Fifth-year guard Heather (Dedman) McMurray led the way with 24 points being named the game’s MVP and earning a tournament all-star nod. She kept making free throws inside the final two minutes of the game, when the Pandas were forced to foul to stop the clock.

Heather (Dedman) McMurray (#4) led the Cougars with 24 points.

Fifth-year forward Becky (Poley) Schutz finished her final game with the Cougars with 14 points. Forwards Phoebe (De Ciman) Haugen and Wersta had 13 and 12 points respectively.

Shooting guard Bree Burgess had 11 points. Bernauer and guard Crystal (Heisler) McGregor each netted 10 points.

Bernauer was named the most valuable player of the tournament and a tournament all-star.

McGregor, who was one of the Cougars most popular players, would later pass away on May 15, 2014 after an inspiring battle against cervical cancer lasting over two years in length.

The celebration is on as the Cougars win the 2001 CIAU title.

She was only 35-years-old – a proud wife (of Paul McGregor) and mother (of Aija and Zayden).

Fifth-year guard Cathy Butlin topped the Pandas with 30 points.

With a comfortable lead, the Cougars ensured their most veteran players were all on the court when the final buzzer sounded. When the final buzzer sounded, they stormed the court in celebration along with their family, friends and fans.

The on court celebrations lasted about two hours after the game ended before players drifted to the dressing room to shower and change for the return trip to Regina.

Crystal (Heisler) McGregor leads the post-game cheer.

The Cougars finished the 2000-01 campaign with a 30-5 overall record. They had a 7-0 post-season mark that included a third straight Great Plains Athletic Conference title.

During the campaign, they received key contributions at different times from Rumali Werapitiya, Jana (Schweitzer) Linner, Leah (Anderson) Levy, Tara-Lee Crosson, Kaela McKaig and Sheena Aitken.

Now 20 years to the day of that game, the players from that Cougars team have become successful mothers, lawyers, businesswomen, coaches, trainers and community leaders.

Rumali Werapitiya, left, and Phoebe (De Ciman) Haugen enjoy victory.

Stapleton coached the Cougars for one more season and is now the director of sports and recreation at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. 

Taylor became the head coach of the Cougars women’s team in 2006.

The Cougars returned to the national final in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013, but were unable to recapture the Bronze Baby trophy as national champions.

Still, the Cougars women’s basketball program continues to be one of Regina’s most storied teams.

The 2000-01 Cougars are CIAU champions. 

To this day, the members of the CIAU champion 2000-01 Cougars are remember in Regina as legends.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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