St. John's, Nfld - The StFX X-Women inched closer to a playoff berth Friday night, following a 74-71 win over the Memorial Sea-Hawks.  The loss eliminates the Sea-Hawks from playoff contention.  The X-Women will be able to clinch the final playoff spot in the AUS with a victory over the Sea-Hawks on Saturday evening.

Memorial got out to a quick start on Friday night, behind 5 points from AUS 3-point percentage leader Lindsay Taylor.  Taylor knocked down an early three to put the Sea-Hawks up 6 early in the first quarter.

StFX battled back, behind strong play from leading scorer Lindsay Lessard, who poured in 11 first quarter points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.

After a brief lead by the X-Women, Memorial closed the gap, as Chante Clarke scored 8 first quarter points to square the game at 19-19 after one quarter of play.

The Sea-Hawks came out strong to start the second quarter, with Sydney Stewart pouring in 9 points.  Memorial pushed the lead to 34-20, before StFX battled back to take a one-point lead into the half.

StFX was able to keep the momentum rolling into the third quarter and stretched their lead to 10 points.  Memorial finished the third with a 6-0 run to close the gap to 7 points heading into the final frame.

With the playoffs on the line for both teams, it was a hard fought, emotional fourth quarter, with the Sea-Hawks getting within 3 points on multiple occasions.  The X-Women did manage to hang onto the lead, behind some great free throw shooting by Kolbi Roper.

The Sea-Hawks were once again led in scoring by Sydney Stewart, who finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds.  Chante Clarke finished with 15 points off the bench.

Lindsay Lessard played a full forty minutes for the X-Women and finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.  Chelsea Provo also added 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists for the X-Women.

The teams are back in action at 4:00pm tomorrow evening at The Field House.

Courtesy Memorial Sports Information