X-Women advance to AUS final with overtime win over UPEI

Charlottetown, PE – The second seeded StFX X-Women defeated the sixth seeded and host UPEI Panthers 86-82 in overtime Saturday evening in AUS semifinal action.

With the win the X-Women advance to meet the top seeded Saint Mary's Huskies in the AUS championship game Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm. The Huskies defeated Dalhousie 73-53 in the earlier semifinal.

AUS defensive player of the year Rebecca Sheehan, a fifth year forward from Fredericton, NB delivered a huge game for the X-Women as she had a double-double evening with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Named Subway player of the game, Sheehan also had 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block and logged 45 minutes.

Sheehan and her teammates picked up the pace late in the game as AUS all-stars Lia St. Pierre and Kolbi Roper both ran into foul trouble and left the game early. Both received their fifth fouls in the fourth quarter in a game that saw 27 fouls apiece handed out to each side.

The X-Women came out of the gate blazing establishing first quarter leads of 10-0 and 18-3. Panthers guard Jenna Jones hit a pair of three-pointers (two of her five on the night) to pull the Panthers back in the game. They went on a 15-0 run to close out the fourth quarter 20-19 in favor of StFX.

The second quarter both brought about close play with StFX holding onto a narrow 37-35 lead at halftime. The third quarter was much of the same close play. The Panthers hit a trio of three-pointers late in the quarter to take the lead and were up by five points, 56-51 after 30 minutes.

UPEI started to pull away early in the fourth quarter and they held a seven point lead over the visitors. They had some key three-point baskets and held onto a small edge over the X-Women for the majority of the quarter.

Despite losing fifth year veteran forward Lia St. Pierre to foul trouble, the X-Women were able to claw their way back onto the game and were up 71-68 with one minute left to play.

After both teams struggled on the foul line down the stretch, the Panthers made an inbound pass with 10.4 seconds on the clock to Laura Power who sank the jumper to tie the game at 71-71, forcing overtime.

Roper received her fifth foul late in the fourth quarter so was unavailable for the extra period. Panthers starter Katelynn Donahoe also fouled out early into the overtime so both squads were shorthanded.

Sheehan, along with forwards Lindsay Lessard and Kim Taylor and Alana Lawn and Melissa Gottschall up front, helped guide the X-Women through the overtime period as they outpaced the Panthers 15-11 to hold on to the 86-82 victory.

Sheehan had six points in overtime, including a key three-pointer late in the game.

Despite leaving the game early, St. Pierre finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists for the X-Women, while Lessard scored 14 points and had 13 rebounds. Kolbi Roper scored 15 and had 4 boards.

Freshman Kim Taylor scored 9 points off the bench and had 10 rebounds while Gottschall contributed 7 points.

Replying for the Panthers was Danielle MacDonald with 21 points and 5 rebounds. Jenna Jones and Julie Hatcher scored 13 and 11 points, respectively off the Panthers bench, while Amy Gough had 7 points and 7 rebounds.

The X-Women have earned their second consecutive appearance in the AUS final. They will meet the same Huskies squad as last year's final, won by 90-57 by Saint Mary's. The Huskies are undefeated this season.

Game time is 2:00 pm at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre in Charlottetown.