X-Women clinch playoff berth with win over Huskies

ANTIGONISH, NS - The STFX X-Women made in three wins in a row with a big 74-36 victory over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies on Coach K Court Saturday evening.  

STFX Gabriel Pizza Player of the game Shannon Neita netted 17 points along with 10 rebounds as the X-Women dominated both ends of the court. Along the way, Neita picked up her 500^th career point as an X-Women, making her the 36th student athlete to do so.

Emily Dikdan finished with seven points and eight boards for the Huskies.  

A three pointer from Abby Mercer ignited a 13-5 run by the X-Women in the first four minutes. The shots kept falling for the Blue and White, and a Mikaela James triple made it 20-7 forcing a SMU timeout late in the quarter. Four straight from Neita helped extend the advantage, and the quarter ended with the score 29-10 in favour of the home squad. STFX allowed only three field goals, while scoring 9 points off five turnovers in the opening 10 minutes.  

The game slowed down in a low scoring second quarter, and a Kristine Cooper three-pointer in the final minute made it 37-15 for X at halftime.  

The pace picked up to open the half, while the X-Women extended their advantage. Ava MacNutt hit a long-range shot to make it 52-25 heading into the final quarter.  

It was more of the same in the final 10 minutes, with STFX landing shots while making things difficult for Saint Mary's shooters. Feron Wallace, James, and Reagan Bell hit a trio of threes late in the contest, and STFX held on for the win.  

With the win the X-Women improve to 10-4 on the season and clinch an AUS championship playoff berth. They currently sit tied for second place with Acadia, each with 20 points and eight back of first place UNB (14-1).  

The X-Women are on the road this week, as they visit the Dalhousie Tigers on Wednesday, January 23, at 6 p.m.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics