StFX falls 70-66 to Acadia in heartbreaking AUS semi-final

The sixth seeded  StFX X-Women came up just short in their bid for the 2012 Subway AUS Championship game Saturday evening in Antigonish, NS, losing to the first seeded Acadia Axewomen 70-66 in semi-final action. The Axewomen advance to Sunday’s championship game where they will face the second seeded Cape Breton Capers.

Acadia received great contributions from three of their top performers in the regular season. Stephanie Chapman poured in a game high 20 points for the Axewomen, while Kristy Moore and Emma Duinker also had strong showings, collecting 15 points apiece. Chapman was named Subway AUS Player of the game, collecting 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in the victory.

AUS Rookie of the Year Vanessa Pickard had a team high 17 points for the X-Women, along with three rebounds, three assists and one block as she was named the Subway AUS Player of the Game for StFX.  Donisha Young collected 14 points and three rebounds, and Jocelyn Moore scored 10 points to provide secondary scoring for the blue and white. 

The X-Women started the game very strong and continued the momentum they gained from a quarter- final victory over Memorial the previous night, establishing a 14-10 lead after the first quarter. The hometown X-Women fans played a crucial part in the opening surge, as the X-Women were hitting timely shots. The seventh ranked team in the country would not go away however, as the Axewomen pressed and pressed and kept the second quarter tight, as both teams squared off with 16 points each in the second frame. The X-Women were able to hold the fourth ranked scorer in the AUS conference, Emma Duinker to only two points in the first half as the score stood at 30-26 for the blue and white at half-time.

The second half started out with a lot of intensity, as it was a ping-pong matchup with both teams going basket for basket trying to get the edge. Emma Duinker started to pick up the pace for the Axewomen, but she was matched by the resilient play of Vanessa Pickard as the two scorers began to put on a show. Acadia narrowly edged the X-Women in scoring 22-21 in the third quarter as the score was very tight at 51-48 in StFX’s favor after three quarters.

The Axewomen proved why they were the top team in the AUS conference in the fourth quarter, as they outscored the X-Women 22-15 and were able to squeeze out a narrow 70-66 victory in a game that went right down to the wire. The X-Women ran out of time and real estate in the final seconds of the game, due to smothering defense from the Axewomen.

Looking at the numbers, The Axewomen shot 35.8% from field goal range, 21.4% from the three point line and 79.2% from the free throw line. The X-Women were 34.8% from field goal range, 30.0% from three point range and 60.0% from the free throw line.

The X-Women’s Cinderella run came to an end Saturday evening, as they were eliminated with the loss to the Axewomen, who move on to Sunday’s Subway AUS championship game against the second seeded Cape Breton Capers. The Capers defeated the sixth seeded Dalhousie Tigers 71-66 in the second semi-final game. Tomorrow’s championship game can be viewed at www.ssncanada.ca, tip-off is at 2:00 pm.

Capers overpower Tigers, move on to championship game

The second seeded Cape Breton Capers were able to prove their worth Saturday evening in Antigonish, NS, defeating the sixth seeded Dalhousie Tigers by a 77-61 final score in Subway AUS Women’s basketball semi-final action at the Oland Center.  AUS conference MVP Cassie Cooke continued her excellent season, scoring a game high 21 points to pace the Capers.

The Tigers were the team who came to play in the opening half, as they wanted to prove all of their doubters wrong and continue to take down teams ahead of them in the standings, coming off an 80-53 win the night before over the third place Huskies.

Dalhousie played very strong defense and were able to hold the Capers to only 10 points in the first quarter as they led 12-10 after ten minutes of play. The second quarter was much of the same for the Tigers, as they continued to hold the Capers to limited opportunities and force turnovers as they held a 15-12 point edge in the second quarter. The score was 27-22 in favor of the Tigers at halftime as they were looking like a serious threat to upset Cape Breton.

The rest at halftime was the best thing that could have happened for the Capers, as they regrouped mentally and showed why they were the second best team in the AUS conference this season. The Capers outscored the Tigers in convincing fashion, 31-12 in the third frame, which included timely three pointers from Tanira McClurkin and Cassie Cooke. Cape Breton took the lead and were up 53-39 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was closer, but the Capers still held the edge while outscoring the Tigers 24-22. Ultimately the third quarter was the Tigers un-doing as the high scoring offense of the Capers proved to be too much to handle. The final score was 77-61 for the Capers.

Stephanie Toxopeus was the Subway AUS Player of the Game for Cape Breton as she collected 18 points, and 14 rebounds. Cooke scored 21 points and had five rebounds and nine assists, while Jahlica Kirnon contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of steals for Cape Breton.

Courtney Thompson was named the Subway AUS Player of the Game for the Tigers as she racked in a team high 17 points and also had two rebounds and two steals. Keisha Brown provided secondary scoring for the Tigers, totalling 15 points and five rebounds.

Looking at the numbers, the Capers shot 37.7% from field goal range, 44.4% from the three point line and 61.1% from the free throw line. The Tigers were 37.5% from field goal range, 0% from three point range and 52.0% from the free throw line.

The second seeded Cape Breton Capers move on to face the top seeded Acadia Axewomen in the Subway AUS championship game Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm in Antigonish, NS.