X-Women win second straight game over Tigers
The STFX X-Women defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 70-63 at the Dalplex in Halifax for the second time in three days.
Halifax, NS - The STFX X-Women defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 70-63 at the Dalplex in Halifax for the second time in three days.
Both teams were even after the first quarter, with the score standing at 16-16. For the Tigers, it was guard Sydney Guker-Wickie (Kitchener, ON) who impressed most this interval, as she stuffed the stat sheet with 3 points, 3 boards and 2 assists. Meanwhile, the X-Women leaned most heavily on guard Jaya D'Souza (Brampton, ON) and forward Lauren Neeve (Oro-Medonte, ON) early in this contest.
The second quarter was also a hard-fought affair. Dal led for most of the period, behind buckets from Kaitlyn Ferrier (Calgary, AB) and Sarah Valley (Regina, SK), although they faltered down the stretch. STFX found themselves up two at halftime, but only made it to that position after a 5-0 run to end the quarter. A layup from Shannon Neita (Toronto, ON) and a three-pointer from Kristine Cooper (Hamilton, ON) provided the X-Women the narrow buffer they desired.
After the break, Dalhousie came out rejuvenated and ready to play ball. The third quarter saw the Tigers shoot their best mark from the field on the night at 43.8%, as they began to hit their stride. Importantly, Ferrier added seven points over these 12 minutes while the Dal bench outscored their opposite number 6-0 to give the Tigers a small two-point lead entering the final frame.
The X-Women turned the tides early in the fourth quarter, as they quickly built a seven-point cushion after some excellent play from Ekaterina Karchevskaya (Mogilev, BY). Then, the Tigers erased that lead on a 13-3 run to retake the lead at 60-57 with 5 minutes of game to play, culminating in a Ferrier three-point make. However, the X-Women would have the last laugh as they closed on an 11-point surge, eventually taking the game by seven points thanks to a couple timely shots from Neeve.
Cooper led the X-Women with 19 points, while D'Souza finished with a team-leading 8 rebounds and Karchevskaya netted 7 assists. The Tigers statistical leaders were Ferrier with a game-high 22 points, Guker-Wickie with 8 boards and Simona Matic (Belgrade, Serbia) with a trio of dimes.
After the loss, the Tigers fall to 0-2, while StFX stays undefeated so far.
Moving forward, the X-Women will host the Cape Breton Capers Thursday at 6pm. Dal returns to look for their first win this year next Saturday evening at 6pm AST as they hit the road to take on UNB in Fredericton.
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Recap courtesy Dalhousie Athletics
