Axewomen top Huskies 88-63 in last regular season game

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The Acadia Axewomen won their last game of the season against the Saint Mary's Huskies 88-63.

Acadia took charge in the first quarter, shooting 8-14 (57.1%) from the field for 24 points. The Huskies started the game a bit off rhythm, making only 5 of their 15 field goal attempts. The score after the first 10 minutes was 24-12 for the Axewomen.

The field goal percentages did not change for either team by the end of the second quarter, with Acadia going 16/28 (57.1%) and SMU going 10/30 (33.3%), giving the Axewomen a 46-25 advantage after one half.

Axewoman Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, N.S.) had a perfect first half, shooting 5-5 from the field, 2-2 from deep, and 1-1 from the line for a game-leading 13 points. Veinot also contributed 2 assists and 1 rebound in the first half while committing 0 fouls. She would finish the game shooting 6-7 from the field, 5-6 from the stripe, and had 20 points to lead all players.

The Huskies were finally able to outscore the Axewomen in third-quarter play by putting up 20 points to Acadia's 16. The Huskies would need to keep applying pressure in the fourth if they wanted to come back.

Saint Mary's offence was fueled by Arianna Macias (Tampa, Florida) who finished the game with 13 points on 5-6 shooting from the field while making 1-2 of her threes. Macias was named her team's player of the game.

Acadia was up 62-45 entering the last quarter of play.

Kelsey Rice (Beaver Bank, N.S.) checked out of the game with 2 minutes remaining, boasting 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. The fifth-year veteran was named the Subway Player of the Game in what would be her last game on the Stu Aberdeen court and only her third game of the season after recovering from ACL surgery in the summer.

"I think the girls need to be ready to play their minutes, they need to play tough. I think our depth of our bench is really good this year. I am looking forward to seeing what we all can bring to the table for the AUS (Championship)," noted Rice following the game.

Rice added that tonight was special for her, "It's great, words can't even explain it. Playing on this team for the past five years has been tremendous. It's changed me as a person and I hope it can change the girls coming up the same way it changed me."

The Axewomen were able to regain control of the game in the fourth quarter, taking this one by a score of 88-63. The win gives Acadia 4 points in the AUS standings.

This concludes the regular season for both teams. The Axewomen finish the season 16-4 while the SMU Huskies finish 10-10.

The Axewomen remain in first place in the AUS standings and will hope for a two-game series split between UPEI and Memorial in St. John's, NL this weekend to hold on to first place heading into the AUS Championship next weekend at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre.

Provided by Theodore Giesen, Acadia Athletics Communications