Last time these two teams played things were close – too close. The X-Women had a sizable lead and things looked good. Suddenly, things changed and Acadia took over the game. The X-Women couldn’t regroup and Acadia stole a win on their home floor.

The X-Women knocked off Acadia 86-48 Saturday evening giving them their 11th win of the season and cementing a playoff spot.

X was lead by fifth year student Ashley Stephen’s 17 points and 12 rebounds. Stephen, a native of Toronto, Ontario, has been making her case this season for a number of awards. Currently she sits in the top 15 in the AUS, averaging 12 points per game and third in the conference rebounding rankings at 8.5 per game.

Along with Stephen, Donisha Young also racked up 17 points while Rebecca Sheehan had 11 and Kirsten Jones 10.

The X-Women held the Axewomen to 8 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second.

Offensively for the first half the X-Women exploded, scoring 53 points while shooting a remarkable 59 percent from the field.

The Axewomen had no answer for the pressure put on by X Saturday night as they committed 31 turnovers for the whole game.

The second half was much of the same for the X-Women as they held Acadia to two quarters with 16 or less points while scoring a combined 23 points of their own.

The other big factor in the X-Women’s victory Saturday was their ability to control the glass, out rebounding Acadia 39-26.

The X-Women rank first in the AUS in points allowed with 979 total, along with being ranked fourth nationally in scoring (74.1 PPG) and second in steals per game with 13.8.

With 32 points in the standings, the X-Women sit just four points out of being in a three-way tie with UNB and CBU for top spot in the AUS. 

X-Women next see action this Saturday and Sunday as they travel to Memorial for back to back games.

Courtesy Mat MacDonald