By Sheri Lamb

WINNIPEG — Taking care of business is what the Winnipeg Wesmen women's basketball team did Saturday night to complete the two-game sweep of the Lethbridge Pronghorns inside the David F. Anderson gymnasium at the Duckworth Centre.

The Wesmen won their fourth straight Canada West contest 70-46 as the Pronghorns dropped their seventh in a row. Like the opening game of the two-game set, the Wesmen opened up a nice halftime advantage and added to it in the opening minutes of the third quarter before head coach Tanya McKay sent her bench players out for the majority of the final 15 minutes.

Brittania Brown, a third-year guard for the Wesmen, notched 12 points, two boards coming off the bench and leading the charge in the latter half of the game.

"It put us a step forward into playoffs and that's our goal," said the 21 year old about how the Wesmen have a one-game lead on their final regular season opponent, the UBC Thunderbirds (7-11), the Victoria Vikes (7-11) and Brandon Bobcats (7-11) as the four teams battle for three CIS playoff sports in the Pioneer Division.

"I think it's really important that everyone got extra playing time because that can make your team better for when you go into playoffs and you're playing different teams," said Brown.

It was a much quicker pace to the start of the game then Friday's start for both teams. Similar to to the first game, Lethbridge coach Dave Adams continued to rotate his lineup throughout the opening quarter giving multiple players minutes. The Wesmen used back-to-back-to-back threes late in the quarter to take a 10-point lead at 23-13 into the second quarter. Megan Noonan had two of the three-point shots, while Kerri Kuzbyt had the other. It was Kuzbyt's second three of the quarter as well.

The two fourth-year guards for the Wesmen, Noonan and Kuzbyt, continued to hit the basket in the second quarter, extending the home team's lead to 16 points at 39-23. Both Noonan and Kuzbyt had 11 points in the first half, while rookie forward Faith Hezekiah had eight points, six boards. For the Pronghorns, third-year guard Zoe Dahl was on fire in the first half equalling the two Wesmen players' 11 points, while teammate Mariah Miller finished with six points after a slow start.

Winnipeg shot 100 per cent from the line in the first half (7-for-7), while Lethbridge was only 40 per cent (2-for-5). Dahl was 3-of-6 from the three-point zone, while Noonan and Kuzbyt were both 3-for-5. The Wesmen finished 8-for-9 (88.9 per cent) from the line. Winnipeg ended the game 10-of-24 from beyond the arc, while the Pronghorns were 5-of-22.

With about five minutes to play in the third quarter the Wesmen had built a 51-26 point lead and Coach McKay was comfortable enough to sub out her starting five to get her bench some work. At the end of the quarter the Wesmen led 56-36. Noonan finished the night with 11 points, five boards, while Kuzbyt had 14 points and Hezekiah — the only starter to see fourth quarter action due to a minor injury to a teammate — had the double-double at 12-10.

The Pronghorns were led by Dahl's 11 points and Miller's eight points, six boards. Teesha Olson  and Katie Keith also had eight points, four rebounds for the visitors.

With roles reversed down the stretch the Wesmen starters proved excellent cheerleaders whenever they're teammates made a good defensive play or notched a basket.

"That made us all happy that they cheered for us like we cheer for them," said Brown. "It really shows a good team effort."

In addition to Brown's 12 points, other Wesmen bench players to hit the scoreboard were Katie Hastings Van (three points, seven boards), Kaelei Knutson (two points, three boards), and Paige Hastings Van (two points, four boards).

The Wesmen travel to British Columbia next weekend for a couple of key games in the Canada West playoff race against the UBC Thunderbirds, Friday at 8 p.m. CST and Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.

"We just want to go in there and do what we usually do, play hard, bring the effort and work together as a team," said Brown.