Sharpe Shines at Old Stomping Grounds

November 7, 2009

Amanda Sharpe was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Fredericton High School Lady Black Kats from 2004-2006.

Call her Friday night performance on the FHS floor a reprisal of sorts. Sharpe, the fourth-year University of New Brunswick Varsity Red all-star, brought down 13 rebounds and scored 14 points - including six straight to open up the game and went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe - as the Reds downed the Dalhousie Tigers 80-60 in the Atlantic University Sport women's basketball conference season opener for both teams.

The game was moved from the Lady Beaverbrook Gym one hour before tip off because of a problem with one of the nets there.

"As soon as I heard we were going to FHS I was happy and I felt really at home out there," Sharpe said. "The team played amazing too and we didn't let the change faze us. We were scoring threes, we were scoring in the post, inside and outside, everyone was contributing."

Against a team that finished third in the AUS in 2008-2009 and allowed the fewest points of any team in the conference, the V-Reds proved there was more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case a Tiger.

Sharpe got things going early with the aforementioned six straight points - two off a beautiful baby hook shot in the paint on the Reds' first possession and another two on a open lay-up inside.

Then Emma Russell took over, picking off a Tiger pass near the sideline, giving the ball to Sharpe and getting it back at the top of the key for a wide open three. She would go 3-for-4 from behind the arc en route to a team-high 18 points.

Jessica Steed chipped in with 16 points. Even former St. Thomas Tommie Alicia Sterling got in on the action, coming off the bench in the second quarter and nailing tough falling lay-ups on back-to-back possessions during a 13-4 UNB run to close the half up 39-30.

"That's us (getting scoring from a variety of sources)," UNB head coach Jeff Speedy said. "That's the only chance we have to be successful. "We just can't rely on Amanda (Sharpe) to have 30 every night. We need to spread it around and we certainly did that. The energy was just phenomenal too. We didn't play the perfect game, we got hammered on the boards (50-32 Dal), but the energy made up for that."

In the second half, UNB continued to pour it on and the Tigers' woes only grew, as a tough full-court press by the Reds forced several turnovers in the backcourt and, on three separate occasions, resulted in a change of possession when Dal couldn't inbound the ball within five seconds.

With the exception of a 6-0 run in the fourth quarter that brought the deficit to 10, the Tigers never threatened.

Laurie Girdwood scored 18 points and Anna von Maltzahn 15 more for Dal.

"We have blown four halftime leads this year and we talked about it at halftime," Speedy said. "We really wanted to come out and focus on doing one or two things really well and I've got to say how well we started the second half is a great sign."

The Reds return to action tonight against the St. FX X-Women. UNB officials are unsure whether the game will be played at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym at 6 p.m. as scheduled or elsewhere, but Speedy said one thing is for sure.

"It's huge," he said. "It's a four-point game and you can't lose those at home. It's not the end of our season if we don't win it, but it (a win) would certainly get us off to a terrific start."

St. FX rolled to an 86-48 road win over UPEI last night. Cape Breton downed Saint Mary's 69-57.

Brent Baker's UNB men's team couldn't match the success of Sharpe and company in the late game - also at FHS. Dalhousie downed the V-Reds 82-66 after leading 44-37 at the half. Josph Schow scored 18 and Simon Farine 17 for Dal. Schow grabbed 12 rebounds.

Colton Wilson replied with 13 points, Michael Anderson 11 and Alex DesRoches eight points and nine boards for the V-Reds, who will host St. FX tonight at 8 p.m. Like the women's game, the location hasn't been determined.