X-Women fall to Capers in home court action

Antigonish, NS – The Cape Breton Capers earned a 78-55 victory over the STFX X-Women Thursday night on Coach K Court at the Amelia Saputo Centre.

The teams played an evenly matched first quarter and were tied 7-7 midway though. The Capers then went on a seven-point run but a three-pointer by STFX's Krissy Cooper late in the quarter helped close the gap. The X-Women trailed 16-12 at the end of the first.

The Capers started off the second quarter with consecutive three's from Hannah Smith and Hailey MacLeod that gave them a 10-point lead, 22-12.

The X-Women struggled in the paint and the Capers maintained their lead. Both squads faltered on offense late in the half.

Cape Breton was up 30-21 at halftime. Kiyara Letlow scored seven points for the visitors.

Shannon Neita had eight first half points for X who were just 8 for 35 from field goal range.

The Capers went on a 9-0 run to start the third quarter. Veteran STFX forward Ekaterina Karchevskaya then scored seven consecutive points, attempting to spark a comeback in her team.

Cape Breton widened their lead to a 21 point advantage with four minutes to go in the third, 51-30.

The X-Women went on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter, trailing 51-40 after 30 minutes. Karchevskaya scored 11 points in the frame for STFX.

Amanda Cruickshank helped slow the X comeback by draining consecutive three-pointers early on the fourth quarter to give the Capers a 15-point lead, 57-42.

STFX was unable to chip into the Cape Breton lead in the final frame and the Capers played out the xx-xx win.

Letlow was strong down the stretch for CBU and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with a game-high 25 points and made it a double-double night with 11 rebounds, being named player of the game for the Capers.

Cruickshank scored 12 off the bench for CBU and MacLeod finished with 10 points and hauled in an impressive 17 rebounds.

Karchevskaya was the STFX Gabriel Pizza player of the game, leading her team with 14 points. Neita contributed 10 and Lauren Neeve was the top rebounder with nine on the night.

The same two teams will be back in action on Saturday night, November 9^th in Cape Breton for a rematch. Game time is 6:00 pm.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics