Huskies edge X-Women 74-72

(HALIFAX, NS) – Kendra MacKinnon (Pictou, NS) scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in her final home game at Homburg Centre and led the SMU women's basketball team to a 74-72 win over the StFX X-Women Saturday evening.

The Huskies win their third in a row while StFX have dropped three straight games.

StFX led 18-16 after the opening ten minutes as Mackinnon and StFX's Briar MacDonald (Antigonish, NS) led their squads with six points each in the quarter.  The Huskies outscored StFX 25-18 in the second quarter and SMU led by five at half, 41-36.

The X-Women outpaced SMU by 11 in the third quarter and regained a six-point lead after thirty minutes 62-56.

Saint Mary's battled back in the final frame and chipped away at StFX's lead with the last 2:40 having five lead changes and two ties.

The Huskies outpaced the X-Women 18-10 in the quarter and held on for the 74-72 victory.

Karina Sarai (Surrey, BC) led all scorers in points and rebounds—25 and 12—for a double-double for the X-Women. Marley Bonnick (Brampton, ON) added 15 while Kimberly Kingsbury (Nepean, ON) and MacDonald each finished with 11 points. MacDonald pulled down 11 rebounds for her own double double as StFX falls to 3-16.

Alaina McMillan (Brantford, ON) had 14 points for SMU while Arianna Macias (Tampa, Florida) finished with 12. Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS) and Lucina Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) each had eight points. Aiyanna Empringham (Middle Sackville, NS) had six points off the SMU bench.

The Huskies improve to 10-9 in Atlantic University Sport action.

The AUS regular season ends next week with SMU on the road February 19 versus Acadia and Cape Breton visiting StFX February 21 with both games worth four points.

Dominic Nolasco, SMU

Photo Nick Pearce