The UNB Saint John Seawolves women’s basketball team were handed a hard loss by the visiting St. Thomas University Tommies on Wednesday evening at the G. Forbes Athletic Center.
In their second matchup of the regular season, the Tommies came out on top with a score of 79-42.
“We started off strong,” said rookie Seawolf, Autumn DeMerchant. “We had the mindset to be aggressive and get lots of shots up.”
Although the first quarter saw the Tommies go on an early twelve-point run, a few shots from guard Kathryn Magee pushed the Seawolves forward. Unfortunately, the first quarter ultimately ended with a score of 14-7 for the visitors.
The second quarter breathed some life back into the Seawolves and, led by DeMerchant, they were able to edge their way back up to trailing by a mere two points.
Points were then traded between the Seawolves and Tommies, with both teams making some big jump shots, but the quarter ended with a score of 30-24 in favour of the Tommies.
St. Thomas appeared to be reenergized after they came out swinging in the first half of the game, and they started out the third quarter with a nine-point run. Later, Seawolves’ forward, Allyson McLaughlin, was able to put the her team back on the scoreboard with two well placed foul shots.
Unfortunately the Seawolves were unable to capitalize further off of McLaughlin’s shots, and the third quarter ended with the score 56-32 for the Tommies.
The fourth quarter saw much of the same play from both teams, and St. Thomas set the pace. The Seawolves shot 25% from the field, while the Tommies were able to shoot 48%, ending with a score of 79-42.
“We played really well in the first half,” said DeMerchant. “We fought on defense and were able to move the ball well.”
“We really need to show some more heart [in] our next few games. The Kingston Cup is coming up this weekend, and that’s a big [one],” McLaughlin commented after the game. “I’m really hoping we can make some more of our shots, and really work together as a team.”
Sophie Sharp led the Seawolves with 8 points and 3 rebounds, while McLaughlin chipped in another 7 points and a game high of 9 blocks. Carissa McTague of St. Thomas led all scorers with 23 points and 9 rebounds, while teammate Jessica Patenaude added another 16 points and 8 rebounds.
With the loss, UNB Saint John drops to two wins and ten losses for the season, and to sixth in the conference. The Tommies are now seven wins to five losses, and remain in third place.
UNB Saint John is scheduled to play again on the 5th, when they host the Mount Allison University Mounties in the 16th Annual Kingston Cup game. Tip off for the New Brunswick rivalry game is scheduled at 1:00 PM for the women, followed by a game time of 3:00 PM for the men.
Games can be streamed online at acaatv.ca
