Antigonish, NS – The UNB REDS relied on a strong 22-point fourth quarter to play to a 66-53 comeback victory over the STFX X-Women in the first game of AUS regular season competition Friday night on Coach K Court at the STFX Saputo Centre.
UNB player of the game Kylee Speedy (Fredericton, NB) paced the REDS to a game-high 20 points in the win.
The X-Women came out strong in the first quarter, playing strong defense. The game was knotted at eight points apiece midway through the quarter.
Laia Torrent (Cornella de Llobregat SP) drained a three-pointer with three minutes to play to give STFX a 17-13 lead, but Speedy answered with a three at the other end for the REDS.
The X-Women were up 21-18 after the opening quarter.
The second quarter was lower scoring as both squads settled into the game. The REDS edged the X-Women 8-7 as STFX held onto a 28-26 halftime advantage.
Ekaterina Karchevskaya (Mogilev BY) had eight points in the opening half for STFX, while Katie Upham (North River, NS) scored seven. Speedy had six points for the REDS.
The X-Women extended their lead to six points in the opening couple minutes of the third quarter but the visiting REDS quickly clawed their way back into the game. A Speedy three-pointer midway through followed by a Reese Baxendale (Apohaqui NB) jumper gave them 37-36 edge.
The teams continued to exchange baskets and UNB held a 44-40 lead after three quarters.
The X-Women kept the score to within four points to start the final quarter, but UNB pulled away, thanks to the sharp shooting from Speedy from beyond the arc. They built up a 16-point lead, 64-48 with just over three minutes to play and never looked back.
Outscoring the X-Women 22-13 in the fourth they closed out the comeback victory.
Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, NS) scored 15 for the REDS and had seven rebounds. Baxendale netted 10 and Erin Ingalls (St. George, NB) contributed nine points and had a team-high 11 rebounds.
For the X-Women, player of the game Shannon Nieta (Toronto, ON) scored 11 points and had four rebounds. Karchevskaya finished with 10 and also had four boards. Reegan Bell (Perth, ON) scored eight off the X bench.
The same two teams will be back in action on Coach K Court tomorrow afternoon in a 2:00 pm tip-off.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics