Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Women picked up their first pre-season win with a 77-59 exhibition victory over the Dalhousie Tigers Saturday afternoon on Coach K Court.
After a close first half, the X-Women outscored the Tigers 49-32 in the second half to secure the win.
The first quarter saw both teams settling in, exchanging baskets as the Tigers took an early lead in the match. The X-Women tied up at 11-11 with three minutes to play but then the X shooting went cold late in the quarter.
The Tigers lead 16-13 after first quarter of play.
The second quarter saw the X-Women pull ahead early on and they lead by three points midway through, but the Tigers clawed their way back into the game. STFX continued to struggle with their perimeter shooting.
The halftime score was close as STFX held a slim 28-27 lead.
The home squad found their scoring touch in the third quarter and three-pointers also started to fall. X-Women guard Tahmala Thorpe made quick plays and veteran Kim Kingsbury made key baskets as X went ahead by 10 points, 44-34 midway through.
Aliyah Fraser sunk consecutive three-pointers to extend the X-Women lead to 13.
StFX increased their lead to 56-47 after the third quarter and maintained the lead throughout the fourth quarter of play.
The Tigers were outscored 24-12 in the fourth quarter as the X-Women maintained a 10-point advantage, closing out the 77-59 victory.
Thorpe led the X-Women offense with 23 points (included six 3-pointers) while Kingsbury scored 20. Briar MacDonald added in 11 and led X in rebounding with six on the afternoon.
Hannah Chadwick was the top scorer for the Tigers with 18 points while Morgan Mudge added 14.
Dalhousie will be back in exhibition action Sunday afternoon when they host Memorial in an 11:00 am match.
The X-Women will next see action on Saturday, October 16th when they travel to Wolfville for an exhibition game against Acadia.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information