
Huskies remain perfect with 73-54 win over X-Women
HALIFAX, NS – Saint Mary's guard Aki Kobayashi poured in a career high 22 points, leading the U SPORTS #3 ranked Huskies defeated the STFX X-Women 73-54 in Atlantic University Sport women's basketball action on Wednesday night at the Homburg Centre.
The X-Women got off to a strong start, with guard Kristine Cooper (Hamilton, ON) scoring the opening five points of the game. The Huskies took the lead with some great end-to-end play by guard Aki Kobayashi (Osaka, Japan), who picked off an inbounds pass for an easy basket, before forcing another turnover and assisting forward Lucina Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) on a fast break basket, giving Saint Mary's a 9-6 lead.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 28, 2024
Aki Kobayashi goes coast-to-coast to end the first half! Kobayashi has a game-high 16 points as the Huskies lead 42-30 at the half! pic.twitter.com/Ka6xhj4na4
STFX took a 15-11 lead with some great contributions off the bench from guard Ofer Caspi (Kabri, Israel) and forward Ali Oluyole (Wolfville, NS), but that would be their last lead of the night, as the Huskies finished the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped by back-to-back baskets from guard Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS), giving the hosts a 18-15 lead after one quarter of play.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 28, 2024
Back-to-back baskets for Clara Gascoigne! Huskies lead 18-15 after the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/0Cf1DfJhIH
Saint Mary's continued their strong play into the second quarter, with Kobayashi and guard Aliyah Fraser (New Glasgow, NS) each contributing seven points in the quarter, including a three-pointer each. A Lucina Beaumont jump shot opened up a 36-21 point lead, but STFX continued to receive contributions off their bench, with a pair of Abby Mercer (Wolfville, NS) lay-ins and a three-pointer from guard Mali Straker (Yellowknife, YT). But it was a coast-to-coast buzzer-beating lay-in from Aki Kobayashi that took the Huskies into the half with a 42-30 lead.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 28, 2024
Aki Kobayashi goes coast-to-coast to end the first half! Kobayashi has a game-high 16 points as the Huskies lead 42-30 at the half! pic.twitter.com/Ka6xhj4na4
The Huskies were led in the first half by Kobayashi's 16 points, while Ali Oluyole led the X-Women with 10 points.
Saint Mary's clicked into another gear to begin the third quarter, going on a 15-0 run, with a Kobayashi jumper extending the lead to 55-30. STFX wing Jaya D'Souza (Brampton, ON) hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 57-37 after three quarters of play.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 28, 2024
Back-to-back buckets for Kobayashi and Fraser as the Huskies grow their lead! pic.twitter.com/HSYutRBAoF
The X-Women were able to outscore the Huskies 17-16 in the fourth quarter, with forward Shannon Neita (Toronto, ON) leading the way with five points, but the Huskies held on for a 73-54 win.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 28, 2024
Back-to-back rejections for Katelyn Power as the Huskies defeat the X-Women 73-54 to improve to 8-0 on the season! pic.twitter.com/7hTVNUJE57
Huskies guard Aki Kobayashi was named Player of the Game, scoring a game-high 22 points and adding five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Aliyah Fraser chipped in 13 points and Lucy Beaumont and Clara Gascoigne added 10 points each.
The X-Women were led by 11 points off the bench from forward Ali Oluyole, with Jaya D'Souza adding 10 points.
The Huskies win improves their record to 8-0 on the season. Saint Mary's will visit their crosstown rivals the Dalhousie Tigers (2-6) on Saturday night, 6 p.m. at the Dalplex to end off the 2024 portion of the 2024-25 season.
The X-Women loss drops their record to 3-5 on the campaign. STFX will finish off the first half of their schedule on the road against the Acadia Axewomen (4-3) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in Wolfville.
Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
Photos by Mona Ghiz / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics