‘We took it personally’
After UPEI swept season series, St. F.X. pulls off upset in rare playoff appearance
The odds were stacked against the St. Francis Xavier Xwomen heading into their Atlantic university women’s basketball semifinal Friday afternoon against the UPEI Panthers.
It had been 10 years since the X-women had reached the post-season, 10 years since they won a playoff game and they were about to play in a matchup against an opponent which swept them in all four regular-season games.
But that didn’t deter Katie Upham and the fifth-seeded X-women, who held the No. 4 Panthers to just 18 points in the second half in an 80-55 rout to kick off the AUS Final 6 basketball championship at Scotiabank Centre.
“That team beat us all four times in the regular season and we took it personally,” said Upham, the veteran guard from North River. “They beat us four times and we weren’t going to allow them to beat us for a fifth. We have a lot of pride and we finally got it done.”
Rookie Shannon Neita paced the X-women with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kristine Cooper also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards while Upham had 13 points in 28 minutes of action.
The X-women haven’t been on this stage since losing in the final of the 2014 AUS championship. Since then, the program endured through some very lean years, including a three-year stretch where they won a total of two games, and posted an 18-132 record across eight seasons.
But Upham saw something in the program, namely second-year head coach Matt Spencer of Antigonish, that made her want to come to St. F.X. two years ago. Following a three-year stint with the Calgary Dinos – where Spencer was an assistant coach – and a job with the Calgary Flames and with Winsport as a strength and conditioning coach, Upham returned to Nova Scotia to resume playing basketball and enter the education program at X.
“When Matt Spencer got the head coaching job, he was my coach in Calgary, and I knew I wanted to come here and help them win,” said Upham, in her second season with the X-women. She was team MVP in 2022-23.
“Matt’s a winner and he knows how to win. When he got the job, it was a perfect fit. And my family is in the stands watching me play. I never had that in Calgary.
“When you put the right pieces together, good thigs can happen. It feels good to get the first playoff win.”
Lauren Rainford led the Panthers with 13 points and sister Aiden Rainford had 10.
The X-women advance to Saturday’s first semifinal (1 p.m.) against the No. 1ranked and defending champion Saint Mary’s Huskies.
It will be a St. F.X. afternoon. On the men’s side, the No. 1 X-men will face the winner of the quarter-final between Memorial and UNB at 3 p.m. The Sea-hawks and Reds played their quarterfinal later Friday afternoon.
The other women’s quarterfinal Friday featured the No. 3 Acadia Axewomen against sixth-seeded Memorial. The winner plays second-ranked UNB in the 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday.
The late men’s quarter-final on Friday pitted No. 3 Saint Mary’s against sixth-seeded UPEI. The winner advances to meet the second-ranked Dalhousie Tigers on Saturday, 8:30 p.m.