Axewomen fall short in season opener against visiting Huskies

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Saint Mary's Huskies grabbed an 84-78 win over the host Acadia Axewomen to kick off their 2021-22 regular-season opener on the road in Wolfville.

Huskie third-year guard Alaina McMillan led all scorers with an impressive 32 points. Named the Subway Player of the Game, McMillan was 11 of 26 from the floor and netted five three-point shots for the win.

The Axewomen took an early opening frame 14-5 lead and would hang on for a 24-15 first quarter win with their largest lead of 12 points early in the first half. Much would change in the second quarter and onward.

Marlo Steenbakkers' layup at 6:29 of the second quarter would narrow the gap to 28-26 Axewomen's advantage. Aki Kobayashi drained three, giving the Huskies their first lead of the game at 39-38. Saint Mary's closed the first half with a 44-39 lead.

The Huskies' lead would hold for the entire second half. Ahead 61-56 after three quarters, Saint Mary's would push out to their largest lead of 12 points with just over six minutes remaining in the game

A thirteen point fourth quarter by McMillan helped the Huskies slow down the late-game charge by the Axewomen.

With under two minutes remaining in the game, Acadia trailed 80-73. A lay-up by first-year forward Sami Russell followed by a Sandy Saunders jump shot narrowed the Huskie win to 82-77 with less than a second remaining. McMillan at the line would end the game at 84-77.

The Axewomen out-rebounded their opponents and posted 45% from the distant arc, but Saint Mary's persevered with 42.1% from the field and turned over the ball 11 times compared to Acadia's 14.

Acadia's Jayda Veinot had a team-high 16 points. Elizabeth Iseyemi and Sami Russell each posted 14 point games and Eva Widmeyer off the bench netted 13. The boards were shared by Iseyemi, Veinot, and Russell with eight each.

Clara Gascoigne and Arianna Macias each had nine rebounds and Courtney Donaldson had 16 points for the Huskies.

Both teams will meet again tomorrow night at Saint Mary's beginning at 7:00 p.m.