Hoop X-Women pick up fourth straight win

Halifax, NS – The STFX X-Women picked up their fourth win in a row with a 75-61 mid-week victory over the Dalhousie Tigers Wednesday night at Dalplex.

The X-Women started the game on a 5-0 run and a three-pointer from Mali Straker gave them an early 8-2 lead. Consecutive three's from Dalhousie's Cairo Henning and Madelyn White got the home team back into the game.

Tied at 12 with four minutes to go in the opening quarter, the X-Women went on a 13-point run to take a 25-12 lead. The quarter closed out 25-16 in favour of the White and Blue as they outrebounded the Tigers 11-5 in the opening 10 minutes, playing a strong defensive game.

The second quarter saw the Tigers start to claw their way back into the game, holding the X-Women to only four points midway through the quarter as STFX struggled from three-point range early on.

Reegan Bell hit from downtown for the X-Women, and an Ava MacNutt three with two minutes to go in the half gave X an 11-point lead, 37-26. STFX went into the locker room with a 43-30 halftime lead.

Straker scored 10 points for the X-Women in the opening half while Melina Collins lead the Tigers with eight.

The Tigers pulled to within six points (47-41) three minutes into the third quarter, thanks to a three-pointer by Simona Matic and a layup from Garcie Dalton. Dalhousie outscored the X-Women 21-20 in the third, but the X-Women maintained a 63-51 lead heading into the final quarter as Mikaela James drained a key three-pointer for STFX to close out the quarter.

The X-Women were able to hold onto a 10-point lead throughout the fourth quarter and went on a late six point run to increase their lead to 16 at 73-57 before closing out the 75-61 victory.

Straker finished with a game-high 16 points for STFX and pulled in 6 rebounds. Shannon Neita scored 15 and had 7 boards, while Abby Mercet scored 13.

Henning and White each scored 13 points apiece for the Tigers, who drop to 3-12 on the season in seventh place in the AUS standings.

The X-Women improve to 11-4 and move into sole possession of second place with the win. They will be back in action on Saturday, January 24^th when they travel to Wolfville to take on the third place Acadia Axewomen (10-4) in a 6:00 pm game.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics