Huskies fall 72-65 to visiting Panthers

(HALIFAX, N.S.)—The visiting UPEI Panthers defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 72-65 on Saturday evening in Atlantic University Sport women's basketball action from the Homburg Centre.

Carolina Del Santo (Barcelona, Spain) recorded a double-double in the victory for UPEI, pacing all scorers with 20 points and 18 rebounds.

The Panthers jumped out to a 16-13 lead after 10 minutes and outscored SMU 16-12 in the second quarter.

UPEI led by seven points at the half (32-25).

A 19-17 third quarter score saw UPEI extend their lead to nine after thirty minutes (51-42).

The final frame saw SMU outscore UPEI 23-21 in the quarter but the Panthers held on for the 72-65 win.

Kendra MacKinnon (Pictou, NS) paced SMU with 16 points in 16 minutes coming off the bench. MacKinnon had 13 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Jenna Mae Ellsworth (Charlottetown, PE) had 19 points for UPEI and Kimeshia Henry (Ajax, ON) added 11 off the bench.

SMU's Alaina McMillan (Brantford, ON) chipped in 15 points while teammates Estelle Eduardo (Villeurbanne, Rhône-Alpes, France­) and Belinda Ndaye (Toronto, ON) each scored eight.

UPEI improves to 9-1 on the year while SMU falls to 1-9 in conference action.

Up next, the Huskies host the Tigers on Tuesday at the Homburg Centre and UPEI welcomes the Tigers January 20 at 1 p.m.

Dominic Nolasco, SMU Communications

Photo Nick Pearce