ANTIGONISH, NS - The UPEI Panthers made it two close wins in a row, dropping the STFX X-Women 57-55 on Sunday afternoon on Coach K Court. The Panthers are now 8-7 on the season, while the X-Women are 5-9.

UPEI Panther Grace Lancaster (Fall River, NS) earned player of the game honours, with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Deborah Aboagye (Montreal, QC) had nine points and seven rebounds for the Panthers, while Aiden Rainford (Toronto, ON) knocked down eight points and 10 rebounds.

Katie Upham (North River, NS) had 12 points and three assists for the X-Women, with Ekaterina Karchevskaya (Mogilev, BY) adding 11 points and three rebounds, and Shannon Neita (Toronto, ON) picking up eight points, eight rebounds, and three steals.

The X-Women came out strong in the first quarter and held a three-point lead midway through. However, the Panthers clawed their way back with a 10-0 run late and held a 17-13 advantage heading into the second quarter. UPEI controlled the boards, picking up 16 rebounds in the first 10 minutes.

It was the home team's turn for a streak, with the X-Women sinking the opening six points of the second quarter and taking a three-point lead with five minutes left in the half. Lockdown defence by STFX allowed only five points in the stanza, and they went into halftime leading 29-22.

Lancaster opened the scoring in the second half, kicking off a 12-3 run in the first five minutes for the visitors. The X-Women battled back though, and a pair of free-throws from Elizabeth Kennedy (Richmond, BC) gave the X-Women a two-point lead with less than a minute to play. However a buzzer beating three from Samantha Zoffranieri (Brampton, ON) gave UPEI a 42-41 advantage heading into the final quarter.

A 5-0 start for the visitors lead to a STFX timeout early in the final quarter. The home side then returned fire, and trailed by two points with five minutes left. A layup from Upham capped off a 10-2 run for the X-Women that put them ahead by two points with three minutes left. However, Lauren Rainford's (Toronto, ON) jumper with 20 seconds left gave the Panthers a late lead, and they held on for the 57-55 victory.

The X-Women return to action on Wednesday, January 24, when they will host the Saint Mary's Huskies at 6 p.m. The Panthers are on the road to Wolfville next weekend and will square off with the Acadia Axewomen on January 26. 

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics