Berry dominate on the court for the AUS championship

Acadia tops UPEI for AUS women’s basketball title

The Acadia Axewomen – the team Allie Berry plays on – won their second AUS basketball championship in six years, and just their third in 66 years, beating UPEI 80-58 last Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Centre.

Acadia, which had a first-round bye and a regular season record of 18-2, got to the final with a semifinal victory over Saint Mary’s, while UPEI downed UNB and Cape Breton.

Berry was a dominant force, posting a double-double in the first quarter. She finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds despite being limited to 23 minutes because of foul trouble.

“I did not know that,” she said of the double double. “I’m excited, I think we played really well today and this cham- pionship, we worked really hard for it. It means a lot. I knew the 2012 girls really well, they were a great team and I’m happy we got to grab another championship and bring it home.”

Acadia’s dominance was most clearly exhibited on the boards, as the Axewomen outrebounded the Panthers by a margin of 65-48.

“We knew we wanted to get on the glass against them, for sure, and…these guys were in, possibly, their last game so they’ve got to play that way. (Berry) was solid for us all season, but this was pretty spectacular, a nice way for her to finish in the Atlantic conference,” said coach Len Harvey, whose game plan called for a quick tempo. “Our style of game fits that strategy, probably, but our pace was solid and it’s tough to win three games over three days.”

The Axewomen are seeded third for the U Sports national championship in Regina.