Keyed by a stingy pressure defense, the StFX X-Women (7-8) rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat the UNB Varsity Reds (4-12) 62-55 in AUS basketball action Saturday night at Oland Centre in Antigonish.
Fifth-year guards Lia St. Pierre and Rebecca Sheehan sparked the comeback for the blue and white.
"We picked it up on defense and we were able to get some easy baskets off the press," Sheehan said in a post-game interview.
Sheehan, who scored 12 points, hit her second three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to give her team a 55-49 advantage. The Subway player of the game added four assists, three steals and one rebound in the victory.
St. Pierre scored a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while adding seven assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
Kolbi Roper led the X-Women with 15 points and 14 rebounds. She added three steals, one assist and one blocked shot.
Antigonish native Melissa Gottschall also hit double figures with 12 points, along with three assists, two steals and two rebounds off the bench.
The X-Women were without their second-leading scorer Vanessa Pickard, who missed the match-up with an injured jaw.
For the Varsity Reds, Awo Farah led the way with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Rachel Cleary collected 12 points, five rebounds, one assists and one steal.
Katelyn Mangold corralled a game-high 17 rebounds for the visitors.
The Varsity Reds led 26-21 at halftime.
"We are certainly not playing the way we want to," St. Pierre, a fifth-year senior guard, said in an interview after the first 20 minutes.
The X-Women had nine turnovers in the low-scoring first half, while the Varsity Reds coughed up the ball on 13 occasions.
The visitors dominated the glass, outrebounding the X-Women 23-14.
At the break, Cleary led the Varsity Reds with 10 points, while Mangold had 10 rebounds.
For the blue and white, Roper led with seven points, while St. Pierre collected six rebounds. Gottschall also scored six points for StFX in the opening half.
The game also served as the X-Women's annual Shoot for the Cure fundraiser in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Both teams donned pink, while the game ball was also the same colour.
"It is a great cause and we are really happy to show our support," St. Pierre said.
The X-Women return to action Tuesday, Feb. 11, when they travel to Sydney to face the Cape Breton University Capers.
Next weekend, StFX will host a pair of home games. Friday, Feb. 14, the X-Women will play the Acadia Axewomen, while the Dalhousie Tigers will be the opponent Saturday, February 15. Tip-off time for both home games is 6 p.m. at Oland Centre.
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