UNB to play for first AUS women's basketball title since 2011
Women's Semifinal #2
#6 Memorial vs #2 UNB
(HALIFAX, N.S.) – The UNB Reds will play for their first AUS Women's Basketball Championship in over a decade.
The Reds, led by league MVP Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, N.S.), defeated the Memorial University Sea-Hawks 71-48 Saturday night in their semifinal matchup played at Scotiabank Centre.
The win advances them to Sunday afternoon's championship final against the top-ranked, and defending champion, Saint Mary's University. The Huskies earned their ticket to Sunday earlier on Saturday afternoon with a 71-61 victory over the STFX X-Women.
UNB's last championship final appearance came back in the 2010-11 season when they fell to Cape Breton University. Although their 28 AUS titles by far leads the conference, UNB have not won a league title since 1998-99.
Memorial earned a spot in the semis with a 71-68 upset of third-ranked Acadia on Friday night, but see their season come to a close with the loss.
Veinot was named Player of the Game after leading her team with 20 points. She added eight rebounds and five assists.
Teammate Jolianne Guay (Prevost, Que.) netted a career-best six three-pointers to score 18 points. On two occasions – one this season and the other last year - Guay made five threes in a single game.
What was a close game in the first half quickly became one-sided in the second.
At half, the Sea-Hawks led the game 30-29, but in the second half it was all Reds. UNB outscored Memorial 19-7 in the third quarter and then 23-11 in the final 10 minutes of play to turn a one-point deficit at halftime into a 23-point victory when all was said and done.
While the Sea-Hawks did not shoot the ball particularly well all game, they were ice cold from the field in the final 20 minutes – going just 5-for-33.
UNB, on the other hand, went 17-for-35 in the third and fourth quarters.
Alana Short (Barrie, Ont.) had 13 at half for the Sea-Hawks, but finished with just 15. Teammate Alyssa Jenkins (St. John's, NL) got out to a quick start with nine points in the opening quarter, and finished with 15 as well.