WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Squeezing past the Dalhousie Tigers with a 67-66 win has the Axewomen basketball team in possession of first place in the AUS standings with a 5-0 record.
Third year forward Allie Berry (Yarmouth, N.S.) led the way with 16 points and a game high 15 rebounds that included 11 defensive boards.
While the Axewomen led most if not all categories including a field goal percentage of 42.4% compared to Dalhousie's 35.8% or the all-important free throw percentage of 66.7%, the Tigers hung tight trailing the Axewomen until early in the third quarter.
Ahead 39-28 at the half, Acadia kept the "pedal to the metal" until the 4:10 mark of the third quarter when a Tessa Stammberger (Kensington, P.E.I.) jump shot followed by two free throws by Stammberger pulled the Tigers to within five points. A Megan Thompson (Brantford, Ont.) three point closed the game to an Axewomen 46-44 lead.
The third quarter concluded with another three point Tiger basket, this time by Sophie Gaube (Halifax, N.S.) to close the third quarter at an Acadia 50-49 lead.
Losing the lead after two consecutive Dalhousie three point shots in the final frame beginning at 8:07 by Thompson and followed by Stammberger, the Axewomen trailed the Tigers 58-56 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
A back-and-forth battle ensued with Paloma Anderson (Pheonix, Arizona) and Ainsley MacIntyre (Sydney, N.S.) trading off threes at 63-63. With Acadia trailing 66-65 after one of two free throws were sunk by Tiger Ashley Cain (Toronto, Ont.), Axewoman Paloma Anderson converted an Alyson Fulton (Merigomish, N.S.) steal into a timely layup for two to give Acadia the 67-66 edge with 21 seconds remaining.
With a three point attempt and missed jump shot in the closing seconds by the Tigers, the Axewomen edged the Tigers 67-66, handing Dalhousie their third loss of the regular season.
Dalhousie's Stammberger netted a game high 23 points and was named the Subway Player of the Game for the Tigers, while Berry collected the Axewomen's player of the game honours.
Stammberger was helped by teammates MacIntyre and Thompson who scored 10 and 9 points respectively.
Paloma Anderson recorded one of her lowest scoring games so far this season with 14 points, while points off the bench was a key to the Axewomen's victory including a total of 25 points from three players including Lauren Jodrey (Hantsport, N.S.) and Alyson Fulton with eight each and Kelsey Rice (Beaver Bank, N.S.) with nine.
Acadia out-rebounded Dalhousie 48 to 42. The turnover category was not so impressive with the Axewomen. The Tigers recorded 20 points off of 17 Acadia turnovers. Dalhousie only offered eight turnovers.
The Axewomen host the 2-3 UPEI Panthers for two games this coming weekend. The weekend will kick off with the first of two games on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. followed by Sunday's 1:00 p.m.
The Tigers concluded the first half of the season before the Christmas Holidays on the road against StFX on Sat. Nov. 28th in a 4pt. game.