Capers lose a close battle against the Sea-Hawks
St. John's, NL - The Memorial University Sea-Hawks defeated the Cape Breton Capers 78-72 on Friday, November 24 at the MUN fieldhouse in AUS Women's basketball action.
The first basket of the game went to the Caper's #19 Kiyara Letlow on an and-one drive to start the game. Alana Short quickly responded with the Sea-Hawks' first basket of the game with her own layup, and quickly took the game into her own hands by scoring 7 of the Sea-Hawks' first 12 points to give them a 12-7 lead early in the quarter. The Sea-Hawks forced the Capers into a timeout with a 16-9 lead halfway through the quarter. The Sea-Hawks kept a comfortable double-digit lead after the timeout, leading by 12 with 3 minutes to go. A small Capers resurgence with a 6-0 run was quickly stopped by back-to-back layups from #10 Alyssa Jenkins to give the Sea-Hawks a 27-16 lead going into the second quarter. Alana Short led the scoring in the first quarter, going 5-8 from the field with 11 points, a steal, and 4 rebounds.
The second quarter started with a lay-up from #6 Claire Hickman for the Sea-Hawks. The Capers returned in the opening minutes of the quarter with another 6-0 run which was stopped by an Alyssa Jenkins layup for the Sea-Hawks. Sea-Hawks #7 Alana Short and Capers #8 Hans Sarah Bailly traded layups back and forth to bring the score to 37-26 for the Sea-Hawks. A small 5-0 run from the Capers got them within 6, the Sea-Hawks' smallest lead since the latter stages of the first quarter. Two free throws from #15 Hannah Green and back-to-back three's for #8 Rebecka Ekstrom quickly restored the Sea-Hawks' lead to 12. At the end of the half, the Sea-Hawks led 47-39. Scoring leader from the Capers at the half was #8 Hans Sarah Bailly, going 5-9 from the field with 12 points and 3 rebounds, followed by #19 Kiyara Letlow with 11 points and 4 rebounds and # 2 Amanda Cruickshank with 8 points. The scoring leader for the Sea-Hawks at the half was #7 Alana Short, going 8-12 from the field, with 18 points and 4 rebounds, followed by #10 Alyssa Jenkins and #15 Hannah Green with 8 points each and 4 and 5 rebounds each respectively.
The Sea-Hawks commenced the scoring in the third quarter with two successful free throws from #7 Alana Short. The Capers fought back in the early minutes of the quarter, but back-to-back layups from Hannah Green kept the Sea-Hawks in the lead 4 minutes into the quarter with a lead of 53-48. The Capers brought the game within two points with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter with two successful free throws from #3 Chermensa van la Parra to make the game 59-57. A lay-up from #10 Alyssa Jenkins followed by a three from #8 Rebecka Ekstrom regained the Sea-Hawks lead to 7 points. Again, the Capers brought the game within two points as #3 Chermensa van la Parra scored 3/4 free throws and a layup. The third quarter ended with the Sea-Hawks leading 66-64, setting up an intense fourth quarter to finish the game.
The Sea-Hawks opened up the scoring in the fourth quarter with two free throws from #15 Hannah Green. The Sea-Hawks called a timeout towards the midway point of the quarter with a 6-point lead 72-66. A three from #7 Alana Short broke a 2-minute period with no scoring as the Sea-Hawks increased their lead to 75-66. Another three from #7 Alana Short brought the Sea-Hawks' lead back to double digits as they led 78-68 with two and a half minutes to play. The Capers called a timeout after a fast break lay-up from #13 Hailey Macleod and another lay-up from #19 Kiyara Letlow gave the Capers hope as they reduced the Sea-Hawks' lead to six with 39 seconds remaining in the game. The Capers failed to make the most of their possessions as the Sea-Hawks remained on top and won the game 78-72.
The leading scorer for the Sea-Hawks was #7 Alana Short, who went 11-21 from the field, with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Short was followed by #10 Alyssa Jenkins, who went 6-14 from the field, scoring 14 points, and 7 rebounds, and #15 Hannah Green went 4-10 from the field, scoring 14 points, 8 rebounds, and an assist. The leading scorer for the Capers was #19 Kiyara Letlow, who went 9-16 from the field, scoring 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist. Letlow was followed by #3 Chermensa van la Parra, who went 5-14 from the field, scoring 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, and #2 Amanda Cruickshank, who went 5-6 from the field, scoring 12 points and 1 rebound. The Sea-Hawks and Capers return to action tomorrow night, November 25 at 6:00 NST. The game can be watched at the MUN fieldhouse or online at https://austv.ca/ .