By: Jack Longo
The Saint Mary's Huskies Women's Basketball team defeated the Dalhousie Tigers at Dalplex on Saturday night. The Huskies' win was their second in a row and improved them to 3-1, meanwhile Dalhousie fell to 0-4
The first quarter was played at a breakneck pace; both teams looked to push the ball in transition and create chances off their opponent's turnovers or missed shots.
The Huskies benefitted more in the early goings, none more so than Sophia Widmeyer (Dartmouth, NS) who scored 10 of Saint Mary's first 12 points in the game.
On the other side, Dalhousie's offence couldn't get started in the same way. The Tigers began just 1-10 from the field with plenty of good shots just not quite falling from inside. Kelsey Crocker (St.John's, NL) did hit a couple of three's to keep the host's attack afloat, but the quarter ended 27-9 in favour of the visitors.
It was looking like it would be more of the same to start the second quarter until the Tigers ramped up their defensive intensity and went on a 12-3 run. The uptick in energy on the defensive end allowed the Tigers offence to get out for some easier buckets in transition. Saint Mary's called a timeout with the score 37-21 halfway through the quarter to stop the Tigers' momentum.
The stoppage seemed to be paying off for the Huskies, before another surge from the Tigers, led by two three's from Katie Crombeen (Calgary, AB), looked to have closed the gap even more before halftime. A late three from Aki Kobayashi (Halifax, NS) widened that gap once again and made it 50-33 at the halfway mark.
Both teams traded buckets to begin the second half, with the three-pointer featuring heavily once more. Again it was Crombeen and Widmeyer getting involved, with each hitting a pair of three's before the midway point in the third quarter.
The Tigers closed the gap to as little as 10 points, but Saint Mary's wouldn't allow their lead to dwindle any more in the quarter. The Huskies, led then by the play of Alaina McMillan (Brantford, ON), opened the game up again and grew the lead back up to as high as 21. The quarter would end with the score 72-54 for Saint Mary's.
Despite a continued fight from the hosts they were never able to fully cut into Saint Mary's lead and come back in the game. Thanks to a dominant first quarter - the other three quarters only resulted in a nine point lead for the visitors - Saint Mary's went home on Saturday night with a 94-67 win on the road.
Saint Mary's Sophia Widmeyer was named the Subway Player of the Game thanks to a game-high 19 points, as well as five rebounds, one assist, and four three-pointers made.
Katie Crombeen had 15 points, four rebounds and an assist to lead the way for the Tigers.
Dalhousie's next game comes next Saturday when the Tigers travel to Memorial for a game at 6pm.
The next test for Huskies is on Friday at 6pm when they play UNB REDS at home.