Local Acadia Axewomen hoopster close to setting new three-point record
The Acadia Axewomen dominated on both ends of the court in a solid victory against the StFX XWomen that ended with a score of 93-51 Jan. 19.
Acadia’s Haley McDonald (Port Williams) started hot, with 10 of Acadia’s first 21 points along with three rebounds.
The X-Women suffered from outside the arch, making only one of their 11 attempted threepointers. They also committed 12 fouls in the first half, compared to Acadia’s six. The score at half read 41-25 for Acadia
Going into the last quarter, Acadia held a massive 30-point lead with the score at 69-39.
McDonald, who was named the Subway Player of the Game, finished with 29 points, 10 of 19 from the field and five for five at the free-throw line. As per usual, McDonald gave the credit to her teammates.
“We just really wanted to get a win,” McDonald said in a postgame interview. “We knew it was going to be a team win. We still have some key people who are out with injuries, so we just wanted to get everyone involved and still continue to get everyone ready and see if they can step up into those roles.”
McDonald needs two more three-point baskets to break the three-point shots career record held by former Axewoman and Cambridge native Emma Duinker. Duinker downed 156 threes in her time with Acadia.
The Axewomen improve to a 9-3 second-place record and will host UNB on both Jan. 24 and Jan. 25.
X-MEN ESCAPE WOLFVILLE WITH 95-93 WIN OVER AXEMEN
The StFX X-Men were able to fend off the Axemen and come away with a four-point win after a nail-biter matchup Jan. 19.
The X-Men played an aggressive first quarter, putting up 25 points on 9-22 shooting from the field, including three threepointers. St. FX led 25-18 after 10 minutes.
Thomas Legallais (Cornwall, Ont.) led all players at half with 21 points and made four of his seven attempted threes. He also made all five of his free-throw attempts.
At halftime, the Axemen were behind 51-37.
By the end of the third quarter the Axemen had pulled within 10 points, putting the score at 79-69 for St. FX. As a team, Acadia had 32 points in the third quarter.
Legallais kept up his strong play in the third quarter, bringing his total to 27. He would finish with a game-high 31 points, along with five assists, earning him the Subway Player of the Game award.
At the four-minute mark, Acadia’s Jacques Lukusa (Ottawa, Ont.) hit the deep three-pointer to give the Axemen their first lead of the game.
The X-Men kept their foot on the gas and came back with three consecutive baskets of their own to regain the lead. With a minute, left the X-Men were up by two.
Down to 8.4 seconds remaining, the X-Men had possession and a one-point lead. Acadia gave up a foul and the X-Men would hit one free-throw and go up by two.
With Acadia’s last possession, they drove down the court and tried to set up the open shot, but the ball was turned over and the X-Men would hold on for the 95-93 win.
After the game, Acadia’s head coach Kevin Duffie applauded his team’s resilience but recognized their shortcomings in the first half.
“(A) slow start by us ultimately cost us the game,” Duffie said. “Proud of the way our guys stayed together and fought back in the second half. But teams are too good in this league to spot them double-digit, first-half leads. Back to work tomorrow to continue to get better.”
Acadia plays their next two games at home this weekend versus UNB.