Huskies beat Panthers 79-64 in Home Opener

(Halifax, NS)-- The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the UPEI Panthers 79-64 Sunday afternoon in AUS women's basketball action from the Homburg Centre.

Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse (Montreal) paced the Huskies with 21 points, including eight points in a fast paced first quarter, which saw SMU take a 20-17 lead after 10 minutes.

The second quarter saw both teams start slow, with Luberisse sinking a foul-shot at the 2:24 mark, extending the Huskies lead to four, 21-17.

Saint Mary's went on to out-score UPEI 23-17 in the frame, good for a 10 point cushion at half 44-34.

Opening up the second half, SMU used a 19-14 third quarter to increase their lead to 63-48 after 30 minutes.

Both teams played even in the final frame, seeing a 16-16 quarter end with a 79-64 Huskies win.

Anne Kiberd led UPEI with 21points in the loss, including seven in the opening quarter.

The Halifax native went 3-8 from three-point land and was 6-7 from the foul-line.

Kiera Rigby (Charlottetown, PE) added 14 points for the Panthers, who drop to 2-1 on the year.

Luberisse also added seven rebounds, six steals and five assists for the defending AUS champion Huskies while teammate Shanieka Wood (Ajax, ON) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Laura Langille (Bedford, NS) had 14 points for SMU, Rachelle Coward (Dartmouth, NS) 11, and Angelina Carvery (Halifax, NS) and Jenny Lewis (Fall River, NS) each added nine points.

Also scoring for the Huskies was Courtney Cain-Nordin (Halifax, NS) with two points.

Alexandra Smye (Halifax, NS) pulled down two rebounds while Carlie Nugent (Richmond Hill, ON) had one board for the Huskies, who improve to 3-0 and face 3-1 Dalhousie November 18th at 6 pm.

UPEI hosts a 2-2 CBU squad November 20th at 6 pm.

SMU communications, photo Nick Pearce