Reds even series weekend series with win over X-Women

(FREDERICTON) A strong second half helped lift the UNB REDS past the STFX X-Women, 74-45, on Saturday afternoon at UNB's Currie Center.

The REDS outscored the X-Women 42-18 in the second half, led by Jolianne Guay (Prevost, QC), who finished with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists, shooting 45% from three-point range.

Guay was named Tim Horton's Player of the Game.

Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, NS) had 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and three steals for the REDS, while Katie Butts (Ottawa, ON) added 12 points and five rebounds.

Laia Torrent (Cornella de Llobregat, SP) led the way for the X-Women, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Katie Upham (North River, NS) added 7 points in the loss for STFX.

It was a defensive battle to start the game. Ekaterina Karchevskaya (Mogilev, BY) hit a three to start the game for the X-Women, but that was quickly answered by a three from Guay, evening the score at 5-5. Some great ball movement from the X-Women allowed Lauren Neeve to be left wide open in the corner for an easy three-pointer, kicking off an 8-2 run for STFX as they closed out the first quarter with a 17-13 lead.

The X-Women continued to maintain momentum at the start of the second quarter.

Kristine Copper (Hamilton, ON) hit a jump shot to open the quarter and then stole the ball from a UNB player, laying it up to give STFX a 21-13 lead.

The REDS then heated up from behind the arc, with Kylee Speedy (Fredericton, NB) and Guay hitting back-to-back threes to kick off an 8-0 run, putting UNB ahead, 24-23.

The REDS closed out the half with an 8-3 run led by Veinot, who made a floater and another three-pointer from Guay.

UNB held a 32-27 lead heading into halftime.

UNB took over to start the second half, outscoring the X-Women 24-10 led by Jennifer Nkuah (Brampton, ON), who added five points in the quarter.

Guay hit a three-pointer to kick off a 10-2 UNB run to start the second half. She added seven third-quarter points as UNB would lead by as many as 19 points and held a 56-37 advantage to end the third quarter.

Maintaining their momentum in the final quarter, UNB surged to their largest lead of the night, leading by as much as 31 points. Erin Ingalls (St. George, NB) contributed five of her 10 points in the final quarter as the REDS closed out the game with a commanding 74-45 victory.

UNB is back in action Wednesday as they travel to Wolfville, NS, to face the Acadia Axewomen. Opening tip is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

Meanwhile, STFX hits the road to Halifax, NS, on Friday to face the Dalhousie Tigers at 6:00 pm.

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Recap courtesy Evan Richtsfeld/ UNB Athletics