Huskies over Axewomen 86-61 in Wolfville

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Saint Mary's Huskies improve to 8-2 with a convincing 86-61 win over the hometown Axewomen, snapping Acadia's four regular season and exhibition game winning streak.

Named the Subway Player of the Game, Huskie Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse (Montreal, Que.) pulled down 14 rebounds and added 21 points in the Huskies first win of 2017 after Memorial handed them two loses last weekend.

Saint Mary's jumped out to a strong start, pulling away with an early 11-2 lead on a 11 point run led by Jenny Lewis' (Fall River, N.S.) layup and three points from the free throw line.

Ending the first quarter with a commanding 23-9 lead, the Huskies faultered only in the second quarter, giving the Axewomen a 14-13 second period edge.

With a 36-23 lead at halftime, the Huskies continued to hold onto a large lead into the final frame. Any Axewomen runs were quickly squashed by a relentless Huskie offense which found easy opportunities in the offensive end.

The Axewomen were out-shot on the floor, posting a disappointing 35% from the floor compared to the Saint Mary's 51%. Out rebounded 50 to 31, the Axewomen found it difficult to defend.

Acadia's head coach Len Harvey noted the need to defend Saint Mary's better on the boards and individually. "We had to mix up our coverages, but too many of the Huskies' scores came from a missed rebound, or missed individual coverage. We need to be much better to compete with them in March." 

Acadia's Paloma Anderson (Phoenix, Arizona) led the Axewomen with 19 points and 5 rebounds while teammates Allie Berry (Yarmouth, N.S.) and Chanel Smith (Halifax, N.S.) had 10 and 13 points respectively.

Lureisse's 21 points was eclipsed by teammate Jenny Lewis who posted a game high 23 points and was 4-8 from the three-point line. Courtney Cain-Nordin added 12 points in 11 minutes of play off the bench.

The Axewomen drop to 4-6 and will host Dalhousie next Thursday night in the first of two Acadia Bell Lets Talk designated games, while the Huskies return home to host Dalhousie on Sunday.