Huskies beat Panthers for top AUS spot

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the visiting UPEI Panthers 50-47 Saturday night in AUS women's basketball action from the Homburg Centre.

SMU finishes the regular season tops in the AUS at 16-4 and grabs a bye into the Subway AUS women's basketball championship semi-final round next Saturday.

Tied 9-9 after 10 minutes, Saint Mary's went on a 15-9 second quarter run for a 24-18 halftime lead.

SMU outscored UPEI 15-11 in the third quarter for a 39-29 lead after 30 minutes.

 UPEI chipped away at the SMU lead in the fourth quarter, out-scoring SMU 18-11 in the frame.

A Panther three-pointer cut the Huskies lead to 48-47 with 15 seconds left in the game.

Emma Valikoski (Espoo, Finland) drained two free throws for the 50-4 SMU win.

Valikoski and Angelina Carvery (Halifax, N.S.) each had 12 points for SMU while Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse (Montreal, Que.) finished with nine points.

Rounding out the SMU scoring on the night was Laura Langille (Bedford, N.S.) and Shanieka Wood (Ajax, Ont.) with five points apiece. Carlie Nugent (Richmond Hill, Ont.) had four and Katrina Murrell (Markham, Ont.) chipped in three points, while Alexandra Smye added a steal in the win.

Anne Kiberd (Halifax, N.S.) paced UPEI with nine points. Tamara Tompkins (Centreville, N.B.) had seven points off the bench, while teammates Laura Power (St. John's, N.L.) and Candace Smith (New Minas, N.S.) finished with six points apiece.

UPEI drops to 12-7 (36 points) and travels to 4-15 Acadia Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip-off to finish off the regular season.

The schedule for the Subway AUS women's basketball championship will be released Monday once final seeding has been determined.

Source: Saint Mary's Sports Communications