Huskies top Axewomen in battle for top seeding

HALIFAX, NS – Saint Mary's guard Alaina McMillan scored 16 points in her final regular season home game as the Huskies defeated the Acadia Axewomen 76-63 in Atlantic University Sport Women's Basketball action on Thursday night at the Homburg Centre in Halifax. 

"I'm happy we got the win, and I'm just trying to soak in my last home game," said McMillan post-game. "I'm so grateful for this school, for my teammates and my coaches, and everything that's happened here over the last six years." 

The Huskies got going early with a three-pointer from Courtney Donaldson (Kelowna, BC) giving them a 5-2 early lead. The Axewomen saw their Dartmouth dynamic duo of Elizabeth-Ann Iseyemi (Dartmouth, NS) and Samantha Russell (Dartmouth, NS) combine to score 10 first quarter points, but the Huskies defensive attention limited them to 4/14 combined shooting from the floor.  

A three-pointer by McMillan grew that lead to 9-3 midway through the first quarter, as both teams struggled to find their offensive flow early. That's when Huskies guard Aki Kobayashi (Hyogo, Japan) came off the bench to make a huge impact – an and-one three-point play, followed by a jump shot, and another and-one – going on a personal 8-0 run to end the quarter, with the Huskies taking a 19-13 lead into the second quarter. 

The second quarter saw the Huskies get back to basics, with McMillan and Donaldson hitting jumpers and running effective pick-and-rolls with forward Marlo Steenbakkers (Ottawa, ON), while Clara Gascoigne (Dartmouth, NS), Lucina Beaumont (Fredericton, NB) and Katelyn Power (Bayside, NS) made great defensive plays to spark transition offence.  

Iseyemi hit a late jump shot to cut into the Huskies lead, but with just two seconds remaining in the half, Kobayashi caught an inbounds and threw up a 40-foot prayer that banked in to give them a 48-32 halftime lead. 

Kobayashi's 13 points off the bench led all scorers in the first half, while McMillan and Donaldson each chipped in 12. The Axewomen were led by 12 points from Iseyemi.  

After shooting 0/12 from three-point distance in the first half, the Axewomen shooters came alive in the third quarter – guards Bianca Helmig (Speyer, Germany) and Lisa Bolander (Uppsala, Sweden) combined to hit five three-pointers. The hot shooting helped the Axewomen outscore the Huskies 21-11 over the quarter, with a final shot by Helmig cutting the Huskies lead to 59-53. 

The start of the fourth quarter was the Marlo Steenbakkers show, as she scored seven straight points for the Huskies, but Iseyemi responded with six of her own, and the Huskies led 66-61 with just under four minutes remaining. That's when McMillan stepped up as she has many times on home court, hitting a tough lay-up. The Huskies defence made some key stops, and with 40 seconds remaining, McMillan drove through Axewomen defenders, got the lay-up to drop, and then stole the inbound to secure the Huskies 76-63 victory. 

In her final home game at the Homburg Centre, McMillan was named Player of the Game with 16 points, four steals and two assists. Aki Kobayashi added 16 points and seven rebounds, Courtney Donaldson added 14 points and five assists, and Marlo Steenbakkers added 14 points and eight rebounds.   

"I'm blessed to be named Player of the Game, but we win these games as a team. Courtney was amazing tonight, Aki had a great game, everyone played well," added McMillan post-game. "I'm just really looking forward to the last three games of our season, and playoffs, and just trying to soak it all in, spend this time with the girls, and I'm blessed that we were successful tonight." 

The Axewomen were led by league-leading scorer Elizabeth-Ann Iseyemi who poured in 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Helmig chipped in 13 points.  

"At this part of the season we're just focusing on getting better, every practice, every game," said McMillan post-game. "We were really focused on what we needed to do defensively, obviously try to limit one of the best scorers in the country in Lizzy (Iseyemi), and I don't think as a team we were satisfied with that, but our leadership and composure at the end of the game helped us close it out." 

The Huskies win improves their record to 14-3, strengthening their lead a top the AUS standings, while the Axewomen loss drops their record to 12-5 on the season, third in the conference.  

The two teams will match-up again on Saturday, Feb. 10, this time in Wolfville, NS, with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.