By Jack Longo 

The Saint Mary's Huskies women's basketball team defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 77-70 at Dalplex on Wednesday night. The victory for Saint Mary's in the four-point game pushed their win streak to four games and moved them into first place. 

Saint Mary's opened the game on the front foot, getting to the rim on offence and playing strong team defence. Dalhousie called a timeout after the opening four minutes where they were outscored 11-6 but regrouped and found that their interior presence on offence was their most effective offence. Lia Kentzler (Göttingen, Germany) and Chloe Wilson (Dartmouth, NS) combined for 11 of the Tigers 19 points in the quarter. 

Saint Mary's full court press caused problems for Dalhousie who turned the ball over five times in the opening quarter. The Huskies were led by Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS) who scored eight points on a high percentage, a theme for the whole Huskies team in the first quarter who took a 24-19 lead into the first break. 

The second quarter shifted in Dalhousie's favour thanks to a much more aggressive approach from the Tigers who got to their spots on offence and played with active hands on defence. Dalhousie grabbed nine more rebounds in the first half than their local rivals - 18-9 and closed the turnover gap to just 7 to 10 in Saint Mary's favour, a much different story than after the first quarter. 

Saint Mary's continued to move the ball well on offence, finding open shooters on the weak side multiple times with perfect skip passes over top of the Dalhousie defence. Overall, the Huskies' approach didn't change much from the first quarter: getting to the rim for shots and moving the Tiger's defence side to side. Marlo Steenbakkers (Ottawa, ON) finished the half with seven points and three rebounds while shooting 75% from the field. 

However, the second quarter belonged to the home team who took their first lead of the game at 34-33 with three minutes remaining in the half. Dalhousie built their lead a little more and took a 43-38 lead into the halftime break. 

Saint Mary's came out after halftime much like they did to start the game. The Huskies went on a quick 7-2 run to start the quarter that led to a Dalhousie timeout. Lucy Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) started the game on fire going 4-4 with three threes to help Saint Mary's find their rhythm on offence again. Meanwhile, Dalhousie's energy lacked the same intensity it did in the second quarter however they kept attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line more than their opponents as a result. Saint Mary's finished the quarter up 58-53 and took the momentum into the fourth quarter. 

The only thing separating these two teams through the match and in the fourth quarter particularly was the efficiency with which they shot the ball. This lack of separation between the teams in every statistical category unsurprisingly produced a close game right to the finish. Saint Mary's scored slightly more efficiently than Dalhousie, shooting 46% from the field compared to 39% for the Tigers, and came away victorious in this match between local rivals. 

Saint Mary's were led in scoring by Subway Player of the Game Arianna Macias (Tampa, FL) who finished with 21 points, while Wilson led the Tigers with 19 points, followed closely by Kentzler and Hannah Chadwick with 17 points each. 

Dalhousie travels to St. Francis Xavier University for their next test on Saturday at 6pm. 

Saint Mary's next game is also on Saturday at 6pm against the University of Prince Edward Island.