X-Women top Huskies in AUS quarterfinal

Halifax, NS – The fourth seeded STFX X-Women defeated the fifth seeded Saint Mary's Huskies 57-48 in the AUS quarterfinal game at Scotiabank Centre Friday afternoon.

AUS defensive player of the year Shannon Neita led the team with eight rebounds and was named Boston Pizza Player of the Game in the low scoring affair.

Mali Straker scored 15 points for the X-Women and Abby Mercer netted 13 as STFX advances to play first place UNB in Saturday's semifinal game.

Straker gave the X-Women an early 5-2 lead in the game with a three pointer. The Huskies then replied with consecutive three's from Angong Jacob and Lauren Armstrong.

Jacob hit another long ball midway through the quarter to put SMU ahead 12-9 but STFX's Lauren Neeve answer with a three of her own.

The X-Women lead 16-15 after the opening quarter.

The second frame saw X outscore the Huskies 20-10. Both teams struggled to score early on, but the X-Women started to find their rhythm and went on a 12-point run, capped off by a three from Ayla White, who contributed 10 points off the X bench.

The X-Women defense also stepped up in the second, holding SMU to two points seven minutes in. The Huskies did put on a late charge with a pair of three-pointers in the final minute but the X-Women lead 36-25 at halftime.

The third quarter was a low scoring affair, 9-8 in favour of STFX . The X-Women maintained their lead and were up 45-33 after three.

The low scoring continued in the fourth quarter and the X-Women scoring went cold. The Huskies held them to a single point through the opening seven minutes and began to close the gap.

Saint Mary's trailed by only four points, 46-40 with 3:05 to play in the game but STFX finally regained their scoring touch and sank a trio of three-pointers thanks to Straker, Kristine Cooper and Mercer in the final two minutes of the game.

Armstrong and Emily Dikdan each finished with 13 points for the Huskies, with Dickdan also pulling in 11 rebounds.

With the loss, Saint Mary's is eliminated from the tournament. The X-Women advance to the 1:00 pm semifinal game on Saturday against the UNB REDS.

Acadia will await the winner of the second quarterfinal featuring Memorial (6) and UPEI (3).

-30-

Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics

X-Women moving on the semifinals!