CAPERS fall in hard-fought 79-71 victory by Sea-Hawks

Sea-Hawks score hard-fought 79-71 victory over Capers

By Corey LeBlanc

Sydney, NS – The visiting Memorial Sea-Hawks (8-3) defeated the Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (5-7) 79-71 in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) women's basketball action on Saturday evening at Sullivan Fieldhouse.

After the Sea-Hawks jumped to an early 5-2 advantage to start the game, senior guard MacKenzee Ryan (Glace Bay, NS) gave the Capers their first edge – 6-5 – with four consecutive points.

Midway through the first quarter, CBU capped a 15-2 burst with back-to-back fast-break lay-ups. After Chermensa van la Parra (Rotterdam, Netherlands) found Kiyara Letlow (Toronto, ON) for an easy deuce, she was on the other end of the second basket, when she canned a feed from Hailey MacLeod (Marion Bridge, NS).

With a 12-6 spurt, the Sea-Hawks carved into the double-digit deficit, cutting the CBU edge to 23-19 – the score at the end of the first quarter – after a basket from Alyssa Jenkins (St. John's, NL).

Early in the second quarter, the visitors took control of the defensive paint and glass, with the Capers unable to garner any second-chance opportunities.

The Sea-Hawks took a 30-28 lead, their first since the opening minute or so of the game.

The sides continued trading baskets, with neither taking more than a five-point advantage.

With less than two minutes remaining before halftime, Emma Power (Goulds, NL) drained a three-pointer, which made it 40-33 for the Sea-Hawks – their largest lead of the contest.

For the Capers, Leandra Hersey (Saint John, NB) drained a buzzer-beating three from the corner to trim the Memorial lead to 43-39 heading to the locker room.

In the third quarter, the Sea-Hawks went 62-52 – taking their first double-figure lead of the match-up.

Memorial outscored CBU 21-17 in that stanza and took a 64-56 edge to the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Sea-Hawks held off the Capers rally, with the teams scoring 15 points apiece.

Rebecka Ekstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) – the Subway player of the game – led the Sea-Hawks with a game-high 18 points, while Power – off the bench – contributed 11 and Alana Short (Barrie, ON) added 13.

Hannah Green (Flatrock, NL) filled the stat sheet with nine points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while point guard Inés Salat Margarit (Barcelona, Spain) chipped in six points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Letlow – the second-leading scorer in the conference – fashioned another double-double, with 19 points and 18 rebounds, while led the Capers with Hersey – off the bench – and van la Parra, who added six assists, added 14 points apiece. MacLeod finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Ryan collected seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and one steal.

CBU Athletics and the Capers recognized African Heritage Month during the game.

The teams will be back on the court tomorrow (Feb. 27) at 1 p.m. ADT (1:30 p.m. NT) in the final home game of the AUS regular season for the Capers.

-30-