StFX hands CIS #6 Acadia first loss of season

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The StFX X-Women handed the CIS #6 ranked Acadia Axewomen their first loss of the AUS regular season, winning a close 74-73 game on Wednesday night.

With 14.5 seconds remaining in the game and the ball in Acadia's possession, the Axewomen were unable to score as the ball bounced out of several Acadia hands after the attempted layup by Acadia's Rachel Savage.

The X-Women trailed for the first half, working back from a 26-13 deficit in the first quarter and ending the half at 44-31. Acadia's Emily Nkosi led all on the court with 17 first half points and Lindsay Harris added 10.

StFX's Kolbi Roper caught on fire in the second half, netting 17 points to push the X-Women to a 20-12 third quarter win and closing the gap to 56-51 after three frames.

X-Woman Jocelyn Moore sank the go-ahead shot to give StFX a 62-61 lead early in the fourth quarter.

During the last five minutes of the of regulation time, both teams would tie the game on five separate occasions before heading into the final 32 seconds when Subway player of the game Roper laid the ball in the hoop to even the score at 73-73. She also drew a foul on the play and her free throw nudged the X-Women to the 74-73 lead which held true, improving StFX’s record to 4-3 as they close out AUS regular season play for the first term.

Roper finished the game 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Axewoman Emily Nkosi pulled the rope for the Acadia with 28 points. Lindsay Harris added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the home team.

Rebecca Sheehan scored 15 points and added 5 assists for the X-Women, while Lia St. Pierre and Lindsay Lessard each scored seven points.

Acadia was 36.8% from the floor and 27% from the three point line and the X-Women posted a 51.7% second half field goal percentage and 43.1% for the night. Axewomen leading scorer Kristy Moore left the game in the first half with an ankle injury.

With the four-point victory, StFX jumps into second place in the AUS conference with a 4-3 record and 14 points, six back of undefeated first place Saint Mary’s (7-0) and two points up on both the Axewomen (5-1) and Dalhousie Tigers (4-2).

The X-Women will break form AUS regular season play for the holidays, returning to exhibition action December 28-30th in Halifax for the Saint Mary’s CIS Holiday Classic tournament. AUS play resumes on Saturday, January 5th when the X-Women travel to Halifax for a 6:00 pm against Dalhousie, followed up by a January 8th match against Cape Breton at the StFX Oland Centre.