Panthers remain undefeated with a 74-58 win over host Axewomen

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 3 ranked UPEI Panthers delivered a 74-58 win over the host Acadia Axewomen in Friday night basketball at Stu Aberdeen Court.

The Panthers took a commanding 19-9 first-quarter lead on the back of Devon Lawlor who came off the bench for 7 points.

UPEI never looked back as they pushed the lead further in the second quarter with a game-high lead of 25 points with just over two minutes remaining in the opening half.

The Panthers ended the opening half with a 45-24 lead.

The Panthers excelled from the distant arc, draining 61% of their 18 attempts, while the Axewomen struggled with only 2 of 20 attempts making the scoreboard.

With difficulty draining the threes, the Axewomen worked well in the paint, scoring 40 under the basket, however, the deficit was hard to eliminate.

Acadia narrowed the Panther advantage to 14 points by the end of the third quarter from the play of Lizzy Iseyemi who netted a team-high 18 points. Iseyemi had 14 of her 18 points in the second and third quarter to give the Axewomen a chance for a comeback, but the Panthers held on to a 59-45 third-quarter lead and to an eventual 74-58 win.

"We didn't screen or cut with any intention or toughness offensively, and defensively we were losing their shooters everywhere. They're a very good team, so we certainly have identified some things to improve on before we meet them again," noted Axewomen head coach Len Harvey following the game.

Iseyemi was named the Acadia Player of the Game. Teammate Jayda Veinot had 16 points and rookie Sami Russell contributed 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Panther Carolina Del Santo was named the Subway Player of the Game for her contribution on the boards. Del Santo pulled in 12 defensive rebounds and two offensive boards with seven points added to the team total.

On the team stats, the Panthers shot 41% from the floor compared the Acadia's 31%. The Axewomen out-rebounded UPEI 41-31 and turnovers were somewhat even with the Axewomen giving up 13 to the Panthers 11.

The Axewomen head to Dalhousie on Sat. Nov. 27 to wrap up the first half of the season, while the Panthers visit Saint Mary's tomorrow night in their second of a two-game road trip this weekend.

Acadia drops to 4-3 and the Panthers improve to 7-0 and sit comfortably in first place in the AUS standings.