WOLFVILLE, N.S. – With two weeks remaining in the AUS regular season schedule, the Acadia Axewomen remain undefeated after a nail-biter in front of a hometown crowd of 647 fans. The 64-61 win over the visiting Cape Breton Capers improves the Axewomen's record to 15-0.
AUS scoring leader Paloma Anderson (Phoenix, Arizona) turned up the heat in the second half, leading the Axewomen with 25 points. After one half of play, Anderson had only eight points, all scored in the first quarter.
"I was struggling throughout the entire game to score and I felt as if I was letting my team down. So at a certain point in the game I just decided it was time step up, get out of my own head", commented Anderson.
That she did, netting 17 points in the second half, 12 of which came in the closing quarter.
Capers' leading scorer, Alison Keough (Marion Bridge, N.S.), was held at 17 points, but Hannah Brown (North Sydney, N.S.) made up for Keough, posting a team high 18 points along with 11 rebounds. Brown was named the Capers' Subway Player of the Game.
The Axewomen took an early lead in the opening quarter, pushing to a 12-4 advantage with four minutes off the clock. Katie Ross (Bedford, N.S.), named the Subway Player of the Game, opened the game with a three pointer as the Axewomen rolled to a 24-15 first quarter lead.
Acadia experienced a lull with 6:29 remaining in the first half allowing Cape Breton to close the gap to 26-23 on the hot hand of Valentina Primossi (Trieste, Italy) and some great defensive play.
Ross' timely three point baskets in the closing minutes of the first half game the Axewomen 32-27 lead with 1:54 remaining in the second quarter. The half closed out with only a 32-20 Acadia lead over the feisty Capers.
A Hannah Brown layup early in the second half gave the Capers their first lead at 34-32 and from this point onward it was a see-saw battle with the lead changing hands eight times before the final buzzer.
With 1:09 remaining in the game, Colleen Keane's layup brought Cape Breton to 60-59 deficit. This would be the closest they would get as Anderson took on a layup and two free throws to give Acadia their third win over the Capers this season.
Allie Berry (Yarmouth, N.S.) and Emily MacLeod (Fredericton, N.B.) were both fouled out early in the final frame, posting four and six points respectively. Katie Ross netted 15 points and added eight rebounds while Chanel Smith (Halifax, N.S.) had eight points.
Berry was asked how it feels to still be running the table with a 15-0 record. "Being 15-0 feels amazing! We work hard as a team to keep the record and we're going to continue to work just as hard to keep our streak going", said Berry. "As a team, we try not to get ahead of ourselves. We try to focus on the goal at hand, which is making every day the best day we can possibly have, whether it be a game day or a practice day."
Cape Breton drops to 9-5 and remains in third place in the AUS standings, trailing the 12-1 Saint Mary's Huskies by eight points in the standings.
With a 15-0 record, the Axewomen are closing in on the team's all-time best record set during the Championship season of 2011-12 when they finished the schedule with a 17-3 record.
Both Acadia and the Capers will square off tomorrow night at 6pm for their last regular season match up against each other. The Axewomen lead the regular season series 3-0 with wins coming in the opening weekend of the season.
Special Note: Fans have mixed feelings about the gathering of Football Axemen behind the visitors bench who cheer for both basketball teams at home games.
Allie Berry was asked what she thought of the team's support.
"Absolutely (love it), the boys give us that 6th man push. Their spirit pushes us if we have a bad play or turnover, it tells us to keep going. As well as the crowd, they are great too. We love the enthusiasm!
Coach Harvey has used the players in practice to work on the physical part of the game "We love having the boys in our practices, it allows us to work against a big presence inside the post and their physical strength helps us to prepare against the bigger teams in our conference in terms of being strong and forceful with the ball."