Prince George, BC - The Timberwolves fought a closely contested game Friday night at the Northern Sport Centre. The Mount Royal Cougars defeated the UNBC Timberwolves 60-59 in Canada West women's basketball action. The Timberwolves fall to 0-5 while the Cougars advance to 2-3.

Cougars guard Jayla Verney led the Cougars with 28 points and reeked havoc for the Timberwolves with four steals. The Cougars took their first lead of the game after a successfully converted And-1 by Candice Buckett with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves Vasiliila Louka scored a career high 18 points, and had a strong outing defensively with 14 rebounds and three blocks.

The Cougars trailed for the majority of the game, it took a strong second half defensively to level the game and eventually pull ahead. The Cougars showed great composure throughout the dying minutes of the game, coming back with 48 seconds remaining to break the deadlock and go ahead by one. Cougars guard Jayla Verney, drew two free throws off a strong drive off a solid pick from Yasmene Saghir. Jayla converted both efforts and gave the Cougars the 60-59 lead. With 48 seconds remaining, the Cougars were able to hold off a late push from the Timberwolves, after Tyleigha Nelson intercepted the Timberwolves inbound with two seconds remaining.

The UNBC Timberwolves started the game strong, feeding off guard play between Sarah Robin and Sarah Buckingham. The two guards showed exceptional playmaking ability as they fed the Timberwolves forwards in the paint, as well as converting a combined 20 points. The Cougars found it extremely difficult to deal with the size and strength of the Timberwolves forwards, but in the end the Cougars would hold on for a 60-59 final.

Both the MRU Cougars and the UNBC Timberwolves return to action again tomorrow night at the Northern Sports Centre. The game is set to tipoff at 5 p.m. and will be streamed live at canadawest.tv.