Huskies top Varsity Reds 53-48

(FREDERICTON, NB) The Saint Mary's Huskies completed a weekend sweep of the UNB Varsity Reds with a 53-48 victory, Saturday afternoon at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.

Katrina Murrell(Markham, ON) scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Huskies.  Shanieka Wood(Ajax, ON) recorded a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Wood was named the Subway Player of the Game.

"We have very strong players and everybody came together today and we held our own, I think," said Wood, who acknowledged the Huskies benefitted from the Varsity Reds' short-bench.  "We had the post advantage, for sure. For us, it's huge. We rely on that a lot, for kick-outs even. Posts are essential to every team," she said."

Mikaela Dodig(Bolton, ON) had 11 points to lead the Varsity Reds, who have now lost five straight.

Krystal Osburn(Nottawa, ON), making her first career start, added six points and nine rebounds.

Osburn's start was a necessity, as UNB struggles with injuries to key players.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Varsity Reds head coach Jeff Speedy. "Next person up is a strategy in pro sports and on a football team, but football teams have a roster of 60. We have a roster of 14, so next person up only lasts so long."  Not making excuses, Speedy says his team's lack of depth is an issue in preparation for games as much as during the games themselves.

"The biggest place the depth hurts us is during the week," he said. "We can't play five on five in practice and we're struggling to get better week to week, and we're struggling to do a lot of little things right. The reason we're struggling to do a lot of little things right is that we're not in that situation Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because of our lack of bodies."

With the win, the Huskies are now 9-4, sitting second in the Atlantic University Sport standings.

"We want to be in the top two ahead of the AUS playoffs, so we needed that," said Wood.

The Varsity Reds fall to 6-9, good for sixth in the AUS.

The Huskies next action is Thursday evening, when they travel to Acadia for a 6:00pm tip-off.

The Varsity Reds visit the St FX X-Women on Friday. That game is scheduled to tip-off at 6:00pm too.

RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics