By Mark Moffat
In AUS women's basketball action at the Dalplex, the Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 61-55 in a game that saw ebbs and flows in terms of scoring.
The first quarter saw both teams get started by trading scores and making sure their defences got off to a good start. This started a trend which would repeat itself, spurts of scoring followed by solid defending. When it was all said and done, Saint Mary's held a 12-9 lead after the first.
In the second quarter, baskets were hard to come by as the first point didn't come until a free throw nearly halfway through the quarter. The first field goal didn't occur until about half a minute later. But, the buckets did pick up, resulting in a tied 19-19 game at halftime
As the third quarter got started, Saint Mary's really turned up the offensive pressure in the last few minutes. However, Dalhousie was able to do the same as both teams were doing good offensively at this time. This left it at 44-38 in favour of the Huskies after 30 minutes.
With the fourth quarter getting underway, Saint Mary's was able to carry over their good third quarter to get out to a 52-42 lead with 4:26 left in regulation. But, the Tigers weren't done yet as they put together an 8-2 run to make the score 54-50 with 3:30 left. But, Saint Mary's regained their footing by taking a 59-53 lead with one minute left and icing the game with two free throws with 13 seconds left.
Subway Player of The Game Jasmine Cain (Halifax, NS) led all scorers with 23 points, while also adding four rebounds and two steals for Saint Mary's. Kennisha Shanice-Luberisse (Montreal, QC) had 14 points and 11 rebounds for a double double, along with four steals and three assists for the Huskies
Roberta Charles (Montreal, QC) powered the offence for the Tigers with 17 points and added five boards. Sophie Gaube (Hubley, NS) scored 13 points and also got three rebounds, an assist, and a steal for the Tigers
This is each team's last game of the first half of the regular season. The Huskies play the in their first game of the second half on January 4 against the Acadia Axewomen at 6 in Wolfville, while the Tigers return to action on January 6 against the Huskies at 6 at the Homburg Centre.