Axewomen drop depleted X-Women squad

The X-Women basketball team were defeated by the Acadia Axewomen 87-78 Friday night in Wolfville, NS. StFX was carrying a depleted bench into the game as several players are currently hit with the injury bug. The X-Women were without veteran starters Kirsten Jones and Spencer Lockhart.

Despite the missing players, the X-Women were able to play a close game with the Axewomen. After a slow opening minutes to the first quarter, Acadia took control and built up a small lead, closing out the opening frame with a 29-23 advantage.

StFX battled back in the second quarter to tie the game early on. The X-Women were leading by as much as four points later in the quarter before the Axewomen came back to tie things up as Emma Duinker played a strong quarter for Acadia. StFX were down 44-43 at the half.

The Axewomen held a slim lead early into the third quarter then slowly began to pull away and widen the gap, as they outscored the X-Women 23-14 in the third frame. Acadia would hold onto their lead and not look back for the remainder of the half. They opened up a ten point lead at 67-57 after three quarters of play.

The lead was too much for the X-Women to overcome in the fourth quarter as the Axewomen held on for the 87-78 win. Emma Duniker had a double-double night for Acadia with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Stefanie Chapmans scored 27 points and added seven boards. Abbey Duinker contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.

For the X-Women, freshman Vanessa Pickard led the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds and also had three steals. Donisha Young scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds and one block, while Jocelyn Moore scored 11 points and had three rebounds and eight assists.

The X-Women have now dropped two consecutive games after winning their season opener against Cape Breton and currently sit in fifth place with a 1-2 record. They will travel to Halifax on Wednesday, November 23rd to play the Saint Mary’s Huskies (4-1) in a 6:00 pm game.

StFX then hosts Dalhousie (2-1) on Saturday, November 26th in their final game before the Christmas break. Game time is 6:00 pm at the StFX Oland Centre and the game will be the X-Women’s annual ‘Shoot for the Cure’ event for breast cancer research. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game, there will be pink T-shirts for sale, 50/50 tickets and a silent auction to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.