UNB Varsity Reds women�??s basketball sweep - men earn split

January 10, 2011

The UNB Varsity Reds men’s and women’s basketball teams were in St John’s, Newfoundland on the weekend for a pair of games with the hometown Memorial University Sea-Hawks. The women came away with a pair of wins topping Memorial 94-65 on Saturday night and then again with a score of 94-78 on Sunday morning. The men earned a 71-58 win on Saturday night but followed it up with a 100-95 loss on Sunday afternoon.

In their first games since before the exam break, the Varsity Reds women showed very little in the way of rust after the long layoff, racing out to a 25-14 first quarter lead and never looking back. UNB was paced by the hot shooting of fifth year senior Leah Corby, who led the team in scoring with 24 points including going 6 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc. Amanda Sharpe also had a strong game with 21 points and first-year player Claire Colborne chipped in with 16. Corby’s older sister Megan helped set the table for the scorers by dishing out a season high 10 assists. Leading the way for Memorial were Grace Fishbein, Jennifer Parsons, and Kelia Pond all with 10 points respectively.

On Sunday, The V-Reds were out of the gate a little slower, trailing by six after the first quarter and as much as 10 in the second, but they were able to battle back and win the next three quarters and pull out a convincing win. Leah Corby continued her hot shooting, leading the way with 19 points, once again remaining hot from behind the arc going 5 for 6. Other players in double figures included Sharpe with 16, Colborne with 14, and Laura Fowler with 14. Memorial’s scoring came primarily from three players. Alexandria Forsey led the way with 25, Robyn O’Reilly had 18, and Grace Fishbein contributed 15.

UNB women’s coach Jeff Speedy was thrilled to win two games in Newfoundland but he was particularly happy with the win on Sunday. “After winning by such a large margin on Saturday night, Sunday was kind of the ‘perfect storm’ for us to lose”. He was very proud of the way the team battled back from a 10 point second quarter deficit to overcome the Sea-Hawks and get the win. “Memorial is a tough place to win one game, let alone two. On a personal note, I’d never won over there, so I left with a smile on my face. But obviously it means much more than that.” Indeed it does. The two wins give UNB 18 points to sit atop the Atlantic University Sport standings.

On the men’s side, the V-Reds were slow off the start on Saturday night trailing by four at the half but a dominant third quarter was enough to give them the 71-58 decision. UNB was led by point guard Andrew Wright with 20 points, Alex DesRoches had 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Dustin Anthony came off the bench to contribute 12. Memorial was led by Robbie Habib with 25 while Jason Shephard chipped in 12.

Sunday afternoon, Memorial was on fire, scoring 20 plus points in three out of four quarters including going 9 of 12 from behind the arc as a team. UNB had six scorers in double figures but it wasn’t enough. They were led again by Wright with 24, Lonzel Lowe had 18, Colton Wilson connected for 15, Will McFee and Dan Quirion each dropped 12 and DesRoches chipped in with 10. Memorial was led by Jason Shephard with a game high 30 points, Mark Woodland had 25, Robbie Habib with 16, and Justin Alliman knocked down 12 in the win.

Men’s coach Brent Baker had mixed feelings about the team’s performance on the weekend. “Obviously we’re not happy with the split,” he said. “We went over there looking to win two and played with complacency in what led to be a very frustrating game on Sunday.” Baker also tried to look at the positives to take from the weekend. “We took three out of four games from that club and if you look at the teams in the [playoff] hunt, we are definitely moving in the right direction.” The split puts UNB in the sixth and final playoff spot in Atlantic University Sport standings. They are two points ahead of Memorial and two points behind Saint Mary’s.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are back in action this Friday night when they host the Saint Mary’s Huskies of Halifax at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym -the women tip-off at 6:00 pm followed by the men at 8:00 pm.