Sea-Hawks defeat Capers 83-77
St. John's, NL - The Memorial University Sea-Hawks defeated the Cape Breton Capers 83-77 on Saturday, November 25 at the MUN fieldhouse in AUS Women's basketball action.
The first basket of the game was scored by the Sea-Hawks #8 Rebecka Ekstrom on a layup. After another layup from the Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat, the Capers scored their first basket from a layup by #4 Darah Fleurgin. The Sea-Hawks held a 10-6 lead at the halfway point of the quarter. The Capers took an 11-10 lead through the second half of the quarter with two successful free throws from #13 Hailey MacLeod as the Sea-Hawks struggled to find the basket. The Sea-Hawks managed to end their 3-minute scoring drought through a layup from #8 Rebecka Ekstrom to tie the game 12-12. Back-to-back threes from both sides were scored by #4 Malva Gyllenhammar Ekelof for the Sea-Hawks and #3 Chermensa van la Parra for the Capers to take the game level 17-17 with a minute to go in the quarter. A buzzer-beater three at the end of the quarter from Capers' #9 Hannah Smith gave the Capers a 22-21 lead heading into the second quarter. The leading scorer in the first quarter was the Sea-Hawks #8 Rebecka Ekstrom, who went 4-4 from the field, scoring 8 points.
The second quarter scoring was opened up by an and-one drive from the Sea-Hawks #15 Hannah Green to regain the Sea-Hawks 2-point advantage. Green continued to dominate as she scored two more consecutive layups for the Sea-Hawks in the quarter, keeping the Sea-Hawks ahead 28-24. The Sea-Hawks increased their lead to 7 as #10 Alyssa Jenkins drew two fouls and scored 3-4 of her free throws. The Sea-Hawks continued to dominate through #15 Hannah Green as she scored another 4 points with great work in the post to force the Capers into a timeout after only scoring two baskets through the first half of the quarter. The Sea-Hawks' lead was increased to 15 as #7 Alana Short scored 4 consecutive free throws. The Capers scored their first points in three and a half minutes as #8 Hans Sarah Bailly scored two free throws, which were quickly canceled out by another two free throws from #7 Alana Short to keep the Sea-Hawks lead to 15. Another three at the end of a quarter from the Capers scored by #3 Chermensa van la Parra brought the score to 45-34 for the Sea-Hawks.
The leading scorer for the Sea-Hawks in the half was Hannah Green, who went 5-5 from the field, scoring 11 points, and 4 rebounds. Green was followed by #7 Alana Short, who went 2-7 from the field, but 6-6 from the free throw line, scoring 10 points, 5 rebounds and #8 Rebecka Ekstrom who went 5-6 from the field, scoring 10 points. The leading scorer for the Capers was #3 Chermensa van la Parra, who went 4-7 from the field, scoring 11 points. Van la Parra was followed by #8 Hans Sarah Bailly, who went 1-3 from the field, scoring 6 points, and Kiyara Letlow who went 2-6 from the field, scoring 6 points and 7 rebounds.
After a scoreless first minute, the first basket of the quarter went to #3 Chermensa van la Parra for the Capers but was quickly followed up by #7 Alana Short for the Sea-Hawks to keep the Sea-Hawks 11-point lead. The Sea-Hawks' defense stood strong in the opening minutes with #7 Alana Short recording two blocks and #10 Alyssa Jenkins recording a steal. The Capers #13 Hailey MacLeod and #3 Chermensa van la Parra scored 7 points for the Capers but were unable to keep the basket out of their own basket as #7 Alana Short and #15 Hannah Green kept the Sea-Hawks lead in double digits. The Capers #3 Chermensa van la Parra continued to shine offensively as she added another 5 points for her team in the quarter, but the Capers could not make up ground on the Sea-Hawks as #7 Alana Short added 5 points of her own to keep the Sea-Hawks ahead 63-48. The Sea-Hawks took a 66-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
#3 Chermensa van la Parra opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to decrease the Sea-Hawks lead to single digits. The teams traded baskets throughout the first half of the quarter as the Sea-Hawks led 70-62 with 6 minutes remaining. The Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat took the ball coast to coast for a layup after a Capers basket by #19 Kiyara Letlow to keep the Sea-Hawks ahead by 10. After the Capers #3 Chermensa van la Parra scored on an and-one drive, the Sea-Hawks bounced back with a three from #10 Alyssa Jenkins and a layup from #24 Brooke Ledevehat to give the Sea-Hawks a 12-point gap. The Sea-Hawks called a timeout with 3 minutes remaining as they led 77-68. The game remained scoreless for two minutes before #13 Hailey MacLeod scored two free throws for the Capers, followed by 2 successful free throws from #10 Alyssa Jenkins for the Sea-Hawks. An and-one drive from #3 Chermensa van la Parra brought the game within 6 points. The Sea-Hawks finished the game beating the Capers 83-77.
The leading scorer for the Sea-Hawks was #7 Alana Short, who went 7-16 from the field and 9-9 from the free throw line, scoring 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. Short was followed by #10 Alyssa Jenkins, who went 3-10 from the field and 12-14 from the free throw line, scoring 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, and #15 Hannah Green who went 6-7 from the field, scoring 13 points, and 7 rebounds. The leading scoring for the Capers was #3 Chermensa van la Parra, who went 12-15 from the field, scoring 33 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist. Van la Parra was followed by #19 Kiyara Letlow, who went 4-9 from the field, scoring 15 points, and 10 rebounds and #13 Hailey MacLeod who went 4-8, scoring 12 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist.
The Sea-Hawks return to action after the winter break, where they will be on the road to face the STFX X-Women on Friday, January 5 at 6:00 AST. The game can be watched online at https://austv.ca/ .