UPEI Women’s Basketball is off to the U SPORTS Final 8!
The UPEI Women’s Basketball team are AUS champions after defeating the Acadia Axewomen by a score of 78-59 on Sunday, March 1 at the Subway AUS Women's Basketball Championship final in Halifax.
Vice-President Administration and Finance Jackie Podger said after the win, “The Panthers have had a great regular season and we’re all so proud of how they carried this momentum into the AUS championship. We are all so proud of our student-athletes as they wear the green and white to represent UPEI at the U SPORTS national championship next weekend. Go Panthers Go!”
AUS first team all-star Reese Baxendale led the way for the Panthers with 25 points on 9-of-20 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from three. She also contributed seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in the effort, winning her Championship MVP, Subway Player of the Game honours, and a place on the tournament all-star team.
Acadia opened the game's scoring; however, the Axewomen struggled early with the Panthers leading by as many as six points in the opening quarter. AUS first-team all-star Reese Baxendale found her shot early, matching McDonald's seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while picking up three assists in the opening frame.
AUS most valuable player, defensive player of the year, and first team all-star Jenna Mae Ellsworth, who was held to two points in the opening quarter, knocked down two threes at the beginning of the second on her way to 10 points in the quarter, and helped UPEI take a 37-31 lead into halftime.
Baxendale and Ellsworth led all scorers at the break with 12 apiece for the Panthers. The Axewomen battled back during the first five minutes of the second half, but the Panthers always had an answer, and kept Acadia at bay.
UPEI's defence, anchored by Ellsworth, held Acadia in check through three quarters with 13 points. Baxendale continued to score well in the third with seven in the quarter en route to 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting heading into the fourth as the Panthers led the Axewomen 54-47 with just 10 minutes to play.
Acadia began the fourth showing full-court pressure on defence, turning a couple of UPEI turnovers into easy points at the rim and cutting the lead down to three points with 7:07 to play, but Baxendale immediately knocked down yet another timely three, pushing the lead back to six.
The Panthers ended the game on a 16-0 run that began at the 5:12 mark, holding the Axewomen scoreless over the final 5:42 of the game, and ending the game with their biggest lead at 19 points.
This is the Panthers' first women's basketball banner since the 1997-98 season. The Panthers will travel to Ottawa for the U SPORTS Final 8 women's basketball championship being co-hosted by the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, March 5-8. For those travelling to or in the Ottawa area, there will be a Panther pre-game pep rally on Thursday, March 5 at 11:30 am at Jack Astor’s, 425 Marche Way, before UPEI takes on Ryerson University in Quarterfinal #1 at 1:00 pm at TD Place. Tournament Pass and Ticket information
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