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Gascoigne dominates as Huskies advance to AUS finals with 89-58 win over Capers
Posted: Mar 01, 2025

Gascoigne dominates as Huskies advance to AUS finals with 89-58 win over Capers

Tickets Photos Video Box Score
Game Leaders
Cape Breton
Pts: 2 Players (#04, #19) - 16
Reb: Kiyara Letlow - 15
Ast: 3 Players (#02, #03, #09) - 4
Saint Mary's
Pts: Clara Gascoigne - 24
Reb: Lucina Beaumont - 10
Ast: Clara Gascoigne - 8
Team Stats
Full stats

HALIFAX, NS – Saint Mary's guard Clara Gascoigne showed why she was the MVP, as she dominated with 24 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals, leading the top-seeded Huskies to a 89-58 win over the #5 seed Cape Breton Capers in the Bell AUS Women's Basketball Championship semifinal game on Saturday afternoon at the Scotiabank Centre. 

"Our first half wasn't our best basketball, but we were getting used to playing here and had some jitters and nerves," said Gascoigne, the 2024-25 AUS MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Star, Clara Gascoigne, who finished the game with 24 points and eight assists. "But we came out in the second half and played really well as a team. We had some really good defensive stops and defense tends to turn into offense for us."

The win catapults the Huskies into Sunday's championship final where they will play the winner of Saturday night's other semifinal between the second-ranked Acadia Axewomen and No. 3 seed UPEI Panthers. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Scotiabank Centre. BUY TICKETS

A third-straight AUS title would make them the first women's basketball program to win three consecutive AUS banners since coach Scott Munro's Huskies won four championships in a row from 2013-16.

The Huskies high-powered offence took a little while to click into gear. Forward Chloe Wilson (Dartmouth, NS) opened the scoring with a three, and guard Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS) scored four points, but the Saint Mary's trailed 14-11 after the first quarter, shooting just 4/17 from the field.

Things opened up a bit more in the second, as Clara Gascoigne scored seven points including a driving and-one lay-in, but when the halftime buzzer sounded, the defending champs still trailed, 32-31.

Cape Breton forward Kiyara Letlow (Toronto, ON led the way for her Capers in the opening 20 minutes, scoring nine points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The AUS First Team All-Star finished the contest with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

When the third quarter started, it was all Huskies. Another Gascoigne and-one drive capped a 10-1 run, as the Huskies opened up a 41-33 advantage.

A stifling defense that forced eight turnovers in the quarter and shots that seemed to never miss helped the Huskies to a 19-3 run to start the third. Late in the quarter, Gascoigne found forward Lucy Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) for a corner three-pointer, extending the lead to 54-39.

The Capers got a few points back at the end of the quarter thanks to sharpshooting reserve guard Alicia Bowering (Orangeville, ON), but the Huskies outscored the Capers 27-12 in the frame, taking a 58-44 lead into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for CBU, it was more of the same in the fourth quarter. The Capers could not buy a basket, shooting just 18 percent from the field in the final quarter, while Saint Mary's pt the pressure on.

In total, the Huskies outscored the Capers 58-26 halftime.

While Gascoigne was named the Subway Player of the Game, her all-star teammates also had big performances. Forward Lucina Beaumont scored a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, and guard Aki Kobayashi stuffed the stat-sheet on her way to 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. 

Capers guard Alicia Bowering came off the bench to add 16 points for Cape Breton in defeat.

Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
 Photos by Nick Pearce / Atlantic University Sport