Axewomen eliminated, but showed they belong

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Acadia women’s basketball team didn’t win the conference championship last weekend on home court, but they certainly made a statement.

The sixth-ranked Axewomen took on Dalhousie in the first of two quarterfinals February 29 at War Memorial Gymnasium - and threw a real scare into the third-ranked Tigers before finally losing 69-67 in overtime.

Trailing by 12 midway through the second quarter, Acadia roared back to tie the score and took a 33-31 lead by halftime on a Marrla Evans three-pointer. Dal led 47-42 after three quarters and took a 56-45 lead with 6:23 to play, but the Axewomen engineered another comeback, going on a 14-3 run to tie the score - and force overtime - on Evans’s jumper at the buzzer.

Acadia led 67-65 with 1:15 left in overtime on three pointers by Evans and Sam Nuttall, but Dal managed to score the game’s final four points for the win.

Brianne Ozimok led Acadia with 21 points and nine rebounds, and all-star Becky Mutch added 12 points and five boards before fouling out in overtime. Evans finished with nine points, Jennifer Bishop, and AUBC rookie of the year Emma Duinker had eight points each.

“The girls are disappointed to lose, but they can be at peace with themselves because they played their best, never gave up and left everything on the floor,” head coach Angie McLeod said March 3. “I’m proud of them - and they should be proud of themselves.”

McLeod stressed Acadia had shown some of the potential they have at times through the season, such as a two-point win over Cape Breton at home and a three-point win at Memorial that represented the high point of their season.

”We were up-and-down all year, but that’s where we are right now as a program,” she said.

In the other quarterfinal, fifth-ranked UPEI defeated fourth-seed UNB 67-48. In semifinal action March 1, Memorial topped UPEI 80-58 and Cape Breton outlasted Dalhousie 75-60.

The SeaHawks then overcame a seven-point deficit to nip Cape Breton 64-61 in the March 2 final to repeat as AUBC champions. Memorial won its fifth conference title since the 2001/ 2002 season and now advances to the CIS nationals.