Halifax, NS - Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS) had a career-high 18-point game to lead Saint Mary's to a 75-67 win over StFX in AUS women's basketball on Wednesday night, at the Homburg Centre.
The Huskies improve to 4-1 for the season with a two-game winning streak, while the X-Women have lost three in a row and drop to 1-4.
Veteran guard Kimberly Kingsbury (Nepean, ON) had an impressive 24-point game for the X-Women but couldn't rally her younger team against the fast-transition offense of the Huskies.
The last time these two teams faced each other in February 2020 it ended in a close 74-72 Huskies win. Saint Mary's started four of Wednesday's starters in that game: Gascoigne, Alaina McMillan (Brantford, ON), Arianna Macias (Tampa, FL) and Lucy Beaumont (Fredericton, NB). StFX, on the other hand, had only one repeat starter in Kingsbury.
An even first quarter ended tied 20-20 with Aliyah Fraser (New Glasgow, NS) making three out of four from the backcourt and opening the game with a StFX 6 –0 lead. Fraser had more threes than all of Saint Mary's combined after the first 10 minutes, in a quarter that saw the lead change three times.
Aiyanna Empringham (Middle Sackville, NS) hit her own pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, breaking a 22-22 tie then handing SMU the lead, 28-27, with six minutes left in the half. Both sides remained closely matched, with SMU outscoring StFX 19-15 as the X-Women's shooting dropped below 25 percent from the field.
The defense of Beaumont and Gascoigne combined for 10 rebounds and three blocks in the first half, holding StFX guard Tahmala Thorpe (Mississauga, ON) to six points in the first 20 minutes. Thorpe sat fifth in AUS points-per-game before Wednesday at 16.8 and scored 21 points in the X-Women's last game against Acadia.
Kingsbury paced her side with 11 points, and Beaumont hers with 12 points, after the first 20 minutes. Both sides shared minutes with their bench to end the half 39-35 for SMU.
Saint Mary's turned on their offense in the third and put together a 17-point lead with three minutes left, outscoring StFX 22-9. Gascoigne showed her versatility grabbing two rebounds, one assist, and six points, ending the quarter 61-44.
The X-Women battled back in the final quarter, chipping away at the Huskies lead and dropping it to 70-64 in the final three minutes, as the Huskies rested their starters and left holes in their defense. The X-Women shot 50 percent from the field in the fourth and outshot the Huskies 23-14. The return of the starting line for SMU contained the StFX run to close out the 75-67 win.
Kimberly Kingsbury paced the game with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Kingsbury is fifth in the AUS for points-per game at 16.2, and fifth scorer overall at 81. Briar MacDonald grabbed StFX 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench, she is tied third in the AUS for rebounds-per-minute at 16.7. Thorpe was relatively contained by Saint Mary's defense with 10 points.
Subway player of the game, Clara Gascoigne, grabbed a career-high of 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists for SMU, while Lucy Beaumont notched 15 points and seven rebounds. The SMU bench scored a combined 25 points, demonstrating the Huskies depth. The StFX bench scored 13 points and 18 rebounds. Arianna Macias, who scored 18 points in her last game this season, was also relatively quiet on Wednesday, scoring six points and five boards.
SMU's McMillan, Gascoigne and Beaumont are now top-ten scorers in the league.
Both teams are back in action in Antigonish to complete their home-and-home series Saturday, November 13th. Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm.
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Courtesy Lauren Phillips, SMU Sports Information