Cape Breton Capers fend off Dalhousie Tigers on opening night

RECAP BY: Ethan Hunt

(Halifax, N.S.) - The Cape Breton Capers took home the first win of their Halifax road trip against Dalhousie Tigers 67-54 at the Dalplex Friday night.

Chermensa Van La Parra (Rotterdam, Netherlands) scored the first two points of the season for CBU, and Hailey Macleod (Marion Bridge, NS) made the first highlight of the game, scoring on a layup and adding on a free throw to that.

Amanda Cruickshank (Montreal, QC) made the defence pay from behind the arc in the first quarter making her first shot, then splashing another in the DAL defenders' face.

A few plays later, Van La Parra thought she had an easy layup, but Sydney Guker-Wickie (Kitchner, ON) was having none of it, and blocked the attempted shot.

With 40 seconds left in the first quarter, the Dalhousie offense looked like they had nowhere to go, but freshmen guard Kaitlyn Ferrier (Calgary, AB) put up a floater while being crowded in the paint.

The score ended with CBU up 21-17 after the first.

With just over five minutes left before half, Macleod came up with a huge block on an inside attack by the Tigers offence.

Macleod's pass to the outside was stolen by Simona Matic (Belgrade, Serbia) who quickly outletted it to Eva Widmeyer (Belgrade, Serbia) but she was unable to make a layup over the stout CBU defence.

Ferrier fueled a comeback from down 13 to make it 31-36 for CBU to end the half.

On the first play of the new half, Ferrier ripped the ball away from Kiyara Letlow (Toronto, ON), and then found Matic, but the guard botched the layup. 

Ferrier then forced Cruickshank to travel in her own half, and Guker-Wickie added a three point shot to narrow the lead to six.

Matic went on the fast break after Van La Parra hit the bottom of the net on a layup attempt, but Matic was met by Cruickshank at the rim.

The Capers out scored the Tigers 19-9 in the third quarter, and entered the final quarter up 55-40.

On CBU's first offensive possession of the fourth quarter, Anna Parsons (Moncton, NB) turnt away Letlow, and then Guker-Wickie followed that up with a block of her own.

Dalhousie continued to get closer to the lead when Ferrier found Emma Ward (Moncton, NB) in the corner for a triple.

Cruickshank met those plays with an acrobatic layup to stop the Dalhousie momentum.

The Capers were able to fend off any comeback from Dalhousie, and ended the game victorious.

Van La Parra ended the night with 17 points and took home the player of the game.

The two teams will face off again Saturday at the Dalplex.