(Halifax, N.S.) – The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the host Dalhousie Tigers Saturday evening at the 32nd annual Lawtons Centennial Women's Basketball Tournament. This victory allowed the Huskies to record a perfect 2-0 record heading into tomorrow's final day.
There seemed to be a high degree of excitement in the air as the action was back and forth for several minutes at the beginning of the game. Tigers guard Michele Tchiakoua recorded the first tally of the night with a swift right handed lay-up.
Huskies guard #5 Jenny Lewis was quick to respond with a perfect jump shot at the other end of the court – nothing but net. Angelina Corvery continued the scoring by sinking a shot all alone just inside the three-point line making the score 9-2 Saint Mary's University.
The Tigers showed some excellent passing skills throughout the quarter, but were unable to get many shots off against the Huskies defense.
The Tigers turned it up a notch with five minutes remaining by driving hard to the net, getting fouls and capitalizing on those foul opportunities. The first quarter would end with a score of 20-15 for the Huskies.
The Tigers came out showing off some amazing rebounding skills to start the second quarter. Center Ashley Cain battled under the hoop to get the Tigers on the board to open the quarter.
Huskies guard #14 Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse had a very notable second quarter for the Huskies as she controlled the ball for much of the offensive attacks.
With just over five minutes left, the Tigers cut the Huskies lead to two when Michele Tchiakoua sunk a two-point basket.
It would be all Saint Mary's for the remainder of the quarter after that Tigers point, closing out the first half with a 9-point lead and a score of 35-26.
The Huskies opened the scoring for the second half but third year Tigers guard Diedre Alexander was quick to drain an unbelievable three pointer with one second left on the shot clock.
The Tigers would not sink another basket until just under three minutes left in the quarter. The Huskies dominated and raised the score to 55-31 at the buzzer.
Dalhousie seemed to come out in the fourth quarter looking more energized after having a tough third quarter. For the first four minutes, most of the points came from the foul line for both teams.
At the five-minute mark left in the game, Huskies rookie Jessica Daniel drained a heat seeking three-point shot.
The Tigers called a time out with just under two and a half minutes remaining in the game. The team could only rally to obtain five more points in the remaining time, which gave Saint Mary's the victory with a final score of 69-46.
The point leader for the Tigers was #13 Shalyn Field who has 10 points total.
Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse, Shanieka Wood and Katrina Murrell all shared the point leader title for the Huskies each of them recording 14 points.
The undefeated SMU huskies will test the UQaM Citadins Sunday morning at 10 am and the Tigers will battle it out in the final game of the tournament against the Laurier Golden Hawks at noon.