(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The Acadia Axewomen handed the CIS No. 2-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies their first loss of the regular season with a 91-84 victory Tuesday night AUS women's basketball action at War Memorial Gym in Wolfville.
Senior guard Lindsay Harris was named the Subway Player of the Game after netting a season-high 35 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Along with an outstanding zero turnovers, Harris was 12-for-15 from the charity strip and 52% from the floor.
Coming into the game with a perfect 15-0 record, the first place Huskies fell behind 21-18 in the first quarter and the Axewomen stretched the lead to a 48-31 at the half.
AUS and CIS leading scorer Justin Colley scored 14 points in the first half and added another 17 in the second half as the Huskies fought back from the halftime 17-point deficit to get within 12 after three quarters.
Colley's 31-point performance was not enough to push Saint Mary's past the Axewomen.
The Huskies had 23 points off the bench and posted 14 second chance points compared to Acadia's 11.
The first place Huskies closed the gap to five points with 2:42 remaining in the game but a jumper by Rachel Savage and a Kristy Moore layup pushed the Acadia lead to nine with a minute and a half remaining in the game.
Head Coach Bev Greenlaw was happy with the effort by his team considering the shorten bench that the Axewomen are struggling with this season.
"We will always have a battle in the fourth quarter because we lack both depth & experience, and because our kids must compete as hard as they can as a team if we are to be in the game with the best teams. The strategy throughout the league seems to be to wear down our most proven kids and beat us down the stretch. Tonight several of our less experienced kids stepped up and made big plays".
Kristy Moore added 18 points for Acadia, while Duinker, who fouled out late in the final quarter, added 17 points and nine rebounds. Rita Sibo posted nine points and nine rebounds.
SMU's Lindsay Panchan netted 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds and Naomie Frequiere had 15 points and several timely three-point baskets late in the game.
Heading into the final weeks of the AUS regular season, Saint Mary's sits on top of the conference with a comfortable 12-point lead in the standings over the second place Axewomen.
Acadia's 12-4 record has them just two points ahead of third place StFX.
Acadia has a game in hand heading into this weekend's hosting of the struggling 4-12 Cape Breton Capers for two games.
The first place Huskies host the fourth place Dalhousie Tigers this Friday night.
Source: Acadia Sports Information