(HALIFAX, N.S.) The CIS No. 1-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the StFX X-Women 82-75 in Atlantic University Sport women's basketball action Friday night.
Huskies guard Rachelle Coward had 22 points and four rebounds for the Huskies who improve to 9-0 in AUS play while StFX falls to 3-6.
A back-and-forth first quarter saw Saint Mary's take a 17-15 lead after 10 minutes.
Saint Mary's used a 10-4 run to open the second quarter before a StFX timeout ended the run.
After the timeout the Huskies outscored StFX 14-6 to go in at halftime with a 41-30 cushion.
StFX came back to start the third quarter and used a 7-2 run to pull within five points but Coward hit a three pointer to extend the lead 46-37.
Saint Mary's ended the third quarter up 59-51.
The fourth quarter saw both teams combine for 47 points and the Huskies used a 10-2 spurt in the first 2:55 to jump out to a 69-53 lead.
StFX clawed back and used a 22-13 run down the stretch to make it close, but the Huskies closed out the game down the stretch.
Other top scorers for Saint Mary's were Angelina Carvery with 16 points and Katrina Murrell with 11 points.
The Huskies' Justine Colley had 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win.
Huskies forward Laura Langille had seven points and pulled down 14 rebounds while Emily Jameson had eight points, Carlie Nugent added six points and Becky Nash chipped in two points.
StFX leading scorers were Vanessa Pickard with 20 points and Lia St. Pierre with 15.
Saint Mary's shot 46.9 per cent (30-64) from the floor compared to StFX's 40 per cent (28-70).
The Huskies drained 33.3 per cent (8-24) of their shots from beyond the three-point line while StFX was a bit better with 36.8 per cent (7-19).
Saint Mary's held a 42-37 rebound advantage and each team had 34 points in the paint.
The Huskies returns to action Saturday, Jan. 11 for a 6 p.m. home game versus the UPEI Panthers.
The X-Women play next this Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. when they host the Cape Breton Capers.
Source: Saint Mary's Sports Information