(HALIFAX, N.S.) – The Saint Mary's Huskies have claimed their third consecutive AUS women's basketball banner after a 59-51 win over the UPEI Panthers in the Subway AUS Women's Basketball Championship final game.
In the first minute of play, Emma Valikoski (Espoo, Finald) opened up the scoring for the Huskies. Laura Power (St. John's, N.L.) responded a few seconds later for the Panther.
Tight defensive play from both teams and shooting troubles plagued the game for the next five minutes, keeping both teams off the scoreboard. Valiokoski put an end to the drought with four and half minutes remaining in the quarter.
The score remained close and stood at 9-8 for the Huskies by the end of the first frame.
Saint Mary's extended their lead to 21-16 in the second quarter with five points from Valikoski, four from Laura Langille (Bedford, N.S.) and three from Angelina Carvery (Halifax, N.S.).
Power responded for UPEI with four points in the quarter while teammates Terrilyn Herrick (Kinburn, Ont.) and Tamara Tompkins (Centreville, N.B.) chipped in two apiece.
The Huskies led by as much as 14 points in the third frame with Langille chipping in eight points in the quarter.
The Panthers worked to close the gap. Amy Gough (St. John's, N.L.) posted seven points in the quarter for UPEI as they brought the score to within four to close out the third frame 38-34.
In the final frame, the Panthers battled hard and brought closed to gap to just three points on two occasions. But they were unable to gain the lead.
With Saint Mary's in the bonus in the closing minutes, they sunk seven of eight free throws to put the game out of reach, 59-51.
Langille was named Subway player of the game for the Huskies, posting a double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
The five members of the AUS championship all-star team were UPEI's Gough and Power, Langille and Carvery from Saint Mary's and Alison Keough from the Cape Breton Capers.
Angelina Carvery was also named championship most valuable player.
The Huskies now advance to the 2015 ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women's basketball Final 8 championship, March 12-15, hosted by Université Laval in Quebec City.
For more information on the CIS championship format, visit http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb/index.