Antigonish, NS – The UNB REDS earned an 80-71 victory over the STFX X-Women Saturday night on Coach K Court at the Saputo Centre.
The win was worth four points in the AUS standings as the REDS improved to 5-4 on the season, while the X-Women dropped to 1-9.
The X-Women opened the game with a 5-0 lead, but the REDS quickly drew even. They went up 10-7 after Kylee Speedy (Fredericton, NB) hit a three-pointer six minutes in. UNB held a 23-10 advantage after the first quarter.
The visitors expanded their lead in the second and were up by as much as 16 points midway through the quarter.
The X-Women fought their way back and after Ekaterina Karchevskaya (Mogilev, BY) hit a three with just over a minute left, the home team trailed by four points, 36-32.
The X-Women outpaced the REDS 26-18 in the second quarter though it was UNB up 41-36 at halftime as Speedy led the way scoring 11 points. Last season's AUS MVP and former Acadia Axewoman Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, NS) scored nine.
For the X-Women, Karchevskaya scored 12 points, all from three-point range, while Aliyah Fraser (New Glasgow, NS) netted nine first half points.
The third quarter was closely contested as neither team held more than a six-point lead. The REDS held a slight 19-18 point tally in the quarter and lead 59-55 after 30 minutes.
The REDS maintained their six point lead throughout the first four minutes of the final quarter. They opened up a 10-point lead but the X-Women chipped away.
Time was not on the home team's side, however, as they could not close the gap. UNB was up by 11 points, 78-67 with just over a minute to play and closed out the game with the 80-71 win.
Katie Butts (Ottawa, ON) had a double-double night for the REDS with 20 points and 10 rebounds and picked up Subway player of the game honours.
Speedy finished with 18 points, all from beyond the three-point arc, and Veinot netted 17 and added six rebounds and four steals on the night.
Fraser was the leading scorer in the game, draining 23 points for the X-Women and earning player of the game honours for her squad. Karchevskaya added 22 points and five rebounds.
Tonight's game marks the final one of the first term for both teams as AUS action takes a break over the holidays. Regular season action resumes on Friday, January 6th when STFX will host Cape Breton and UNB hosts Saint Mary's.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics