FREDERICTON - With second seed on the line on Saturday afternoon, the Axewomen fell 91-87 to the UNB REDS to finish third at the conclusion of conference play.
Elizabeth-Ann Iseyemi (Dartmouth, NS) led the Axewomen with 21 points and 19 rebounds while Lisa Bolander (Uppsala, SWE) had 20 points and Rio Yamazaki (Tokyo, JAP) had 19, including nine in the overtime period.
To cap of the season, Iseyemi set an Acadia single season rebound record, finishing the year with 226. Ending her career this year, she also set the career rebounds per game record at Acadia, finising with 9.2 rebounds per game.
The REDS scored on their first two possessions to build an early lead before the teams settled into a back-and-forth of sorts.
Tied 9-9, the Axewomen went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 14-9. When they extended that lead to 18-11, UNB called a timeout.
The Axewomen continued to push and led 22-13 after one quarter.
In the second, the REDS rebounded, outscoring the Axewomen 29-24 to trim their deficit to just four points. At the half, Acadia was ahead 46-42.
The third quarter saw Acadia claw back some of their big lead, taking a 65-55 lead after 30 minutes.
In the fourth the REDS went to work, using an 8-0 run in the early minutes to pull to within a pair at 65-63.
UNB outscored the Axewomen 19-9 over the final ten minutes of regulation and the teams were tied 74-74 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Katie Butts (Ottawa, ON) and Erin Ingalls (St. George, NB) both recorded double-doubles in the REDS win. Butts scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Ingalls added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, NS) scored a game-high 33 points, including nine in overtime.
The REDS finish the season with a 15-5 record, good for second place.
They now await a semi-final opponent at the AUS Championships, in Halifax.
Acadia finishes 13-7 and will play in the AUS quarter-finals against a still to be determined opponent.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics