Huskies win in OT over Tigers

The Saint Mary's Huskies extending their winning streak to eight over the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday night with a nail-biting 51-49 overtime victory. The Huskies have dominated the Tigers in recent years and haven't lost to their crosstown rivals since February 26, 2011.

The Tigers shot just 7-26 (26.9%) in the second half after holding an eight-point lead after the first half.

The Huskies were off to a sluggish start in the first quarter, shooting 3-14 from the field as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-8 lead after ten minutes of play.

Courtney Thompson and Tessa Stammberger carried the load offensively for the Tigers in the first half, as they combined accounted for 22 of Dalhousie's 26 first-half points as the Tigers held a 26-18 going into halftime. The Huskies shooting woes continued as they shot just 25.0% from the field and they made just one of their six shots from the charity stripe.

Their defense forced the Tigers into nine first-half turnovers turnovers but they couldn't make them pay as they had just five points off turnovers after two quarters of play.

Thompson opened the second half with a layup, but it was Kennisha Shanice-Luberisse that got the crowd to their feet with her energy and hustle. She had three points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist in the first five minutes of the quarter and Angelina Carvery made it a one point game with a huge three with 3:14 left in the quarter. After a Tigers free throw, Shaniea Wood drained a contested layup to tie the game at 31. She'd follow it up with a free throw and the Huskies held a one point lead going into the final quarter.

Laura Langille opened the fourth quarter with a three to open up the Huskies lead to four. Courtney Thompson had the chance to tie the game with 4:07 left, but she only made one of her free throws. She instantly redeemed herself when she hit an easy layup after picking off a pass by Alexandra Smye to regain the lead for the Tigers.

With 30 seconds left, the Tigers had possession and were running down the clock. With only two seconds left on the shot clock, Diedre Alexander's jumper was blocked by Carlie Nugent went streaking the other way. Ainsley MacIntyre was hot on her heels, and fouled her on her way up to prevent the easy layup. After missing her first free throw off the back rim, Nugent hit her second to tie the game with just four seconds left.

The Tigers took a timeout but botched the play and Lubrerisse came up with a steal. Her half-court heave at the buzzer fell short however, and the game went into OT.

After missing her first first free throw, Courtney Thompson redeemed herself again when she hit a jumper off a feed from Tessa Stammberger to give the Tigers a 49-48 lead with 2:26 left. Diedre Alexander grabbed an offensive board in the paint with 33 second left and had the chance to extend the Tigers lead to three, but she missed both free throws. The Huskies went the other way and Angelina Carvery hit a contested layup with Christina Brown all over her to give the Huskies a single-point lead with 16.6 seconds remaining.

After the inbound, Stammberger got the ball low in the paint but couldn't she couldn't convert on a tough layup heavily contested by Laura Langille. After a desperate scramble, the ball went out on the Tigers and the Huskies took a timeout. Carlie Nugent was fouled intentionally by Tessa Stammberger, and she made one of her free throws to give the Huskies a two-point lead. The Huskies inbounded the ball and Tessa Stammberger had a half-court shot for the win, but it went right as the Huskies held on for the win.

Laura Langille was named the Subway player of the game for the Huskies after she recorded a team-high 15 points and seven boards. Kennisha-Shannice Luberisse was just one point short of a double-double, netting nine points and eleven boards. AUS-leading scorer Courtney Thompson had a game-high 22 points in the loss for the Tigers. Tessa Stammberger was named the Subway player of the game after dropping 16 points and 11 boards.​

Source DAL Communications

Photo, file photo Nick Pearce