Tigers edge X-Women 59-57

Photo courtesy Nic Latulippe
Photo courtesy Nic Latulippe

Antigonish, NS – The Dalhousie Tigers (3-14) defeated the StFX X-Women (1-14) Tuesday night at the Oland Center in an AUS match between the bottom two teams in the conference.

The game was a tale of two halves as the Tigers established a 37-21 halftime lead, but the X-Women battled back to outscore the visitors 36-22 in the second half to make it a close game down the finish.

Dalhousie got out to an early 7-2 lead as the X-Women struggled early on from field goal range (3-10). The Tigers held the blue and white to nine points in the first quarter as they lead 22-9.

The field goal struggles continued for the X-Women into the second quarter, shooting 24% in the first half.  Jessica Miller Mount Denson, NS) sparked the StFX offense late in the second quarter as she hit her first of four three-pointers on the night.

In the third quarter the X-Women chipped away at the Tigers lead, outscoring them by a 16-9 margin as the Tigers held onto an eight-point lead, 46-37 after 30 minutes of play.

Consecutive three-pointers by Miller and Chelsea Provo (East Preston, NS) helped the X-Women close the gap to three points early in the fourth quarter.

It was fast, back-and-forth action down both sides of the court as the Tigers held a five-point advantage for much for the quarter. The X-Women pulled to within a point with 3:06 left to play at 54-53.

Subway player of the game Diedre Alexander (Woodstock, NB) made a clutch basket down the stretch and a free throw to keep the Tigers in the game and thwart the X-Women comeback. The X-Women had possession with 14 seconds left to play but couldn't get a shot off as the Tigers took the 598-57 victory.

Alexander lead all scorers in the game with 16 points. She also contributed four rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Sophie Gaube (Hubley, NS) netted 11 points off the bench for Dalhousie and Shalyn Field (Halifax, NS) scored 10 points and had nine rebounds.

Kim Taylor lead the StFX attack with 11 points and hauled in nine rebounds. Miller also had 11 with Provo scoring eight and nabbing nine boards. Jamie McCarron (New Glasgow, NS) and Sammie Amoh (Scarborough, ON) also scored eight points apiece.

Although both teams have been eliminated from the Subway AUS championship, there are still five games remaining on the regular season schedule for the X-Women. They travel to Fredericton for games against the Varsity Reds on Feb. 10th and 11th.

The Tigers next see action on February 17th when they host cross-town rivals Saint Mary's.