V-Reds make their (4) points vs. visiting Huskies

January 15, 2011

Last season, four point games were the bane of the UNB Varsity Reds girls' basketball team.

Thanks to Friday night's 84-59 win over visiting Saint Mary's University Huskies, the girls are so far undefeated in four pointers in the 2010-11 campaign and have won seven consecutive games overall in Atlantic University Sport Women's Basketball Conference action, trends that continued at the UNB Main Gym.

Four V-Reds were in double figures with Leah Corby leading the way with a team-high 20. She scored nine in the fourth quarter alone, helping the girls achieve the separation they were looking for throughout the game.

"Both Corbys had a good game," UNB coach Jeff Speedy said, referring to Leah and her older sister Megan, who added 15. "We didn't get Amanda (Sharpe) as many touches as she should have but Megan and Claire (rookie wing Colborne) also scored well today. You need at least three people in double figures to get a W. Claire, Megan and Leah were all in double figures and the three of them all had good offensive games for sure."

With Colborne scoring six of her 16 in the fourth, the V-Reds dominated the final quarter by outscoring SMU 28-15. It was a combination of discipline and improved defence.

"We kind of stopped turning the ball over," Speedy said of the strong fourth. "Our zone was really effective. If they did score it was really late in the shot clock and they kind of started running out of time because it would take them 20 to 22 seconds to put up a shot."

Joining Corby and Colborne in double digits were Amanda Sharpe with 10 points and player of the game Megan Corby with 15. Megan Corby also managed nine, including three in the fourth to kill any momentum the Huskies tried to build.

The Varsity Reds distributed the ball effectively as eight players landed on the scoresheet, seven of whom had at least five points.

"When we've had the most success, that's the way we've done it for sure," Speedy said. "Even though Claire, Leah and Amanda are in the top ten in the league in scoring, if the focus is on shutting one or two of them down we're going to need other players to step up."

SMU sophomore Justine Colley shot early and often to a game high 22 points. She cruised up and down the court the entire game but it wasn't enough to steal a road victory away from the UNB girls. Fredericton sophomore Robbi Daley connected for 15 for the Huskies in her homecoming.

SMU coach Scott Munro was high on Colley's play and mentioned it was part of the Huskies game plan to keep the ball out of Sharpe's hands.

"She's a great player," Munro said. "We got a little tired in the fourth quarter. We worked pretty hard to keep the ball out of the post for them and tried to limit Amanda Sharpe's touches a little bit. With six or seven minutes to go the game kind of got away from us but all credit to UNB."

Munro said it's difficult when facing a team with as much firepower as the V-Reds possess.

"If you try to key in too much on one of their players, the others are going to get you," he said. "You've sort of got to pick your poison."

The four points are obviously a big number for the V-Reds, especially since the team had difficulty securing victories in these games a year ago.

"It's huge," Speedy said. "I think our record last year in four-pointers was 1-7 or something like that. We're 3-0 now and that's huge especially four-pointers at home."

"We play tomorrow so we have to turn around pretty quick," Munro said. "I thought we played pretty well for 30 minutes. Now we have to take that 30 minutes and move forward toward the rest of the regular season."

UNB hits the road for back to back games in Nova Scotia on January 22 and 23 against St. FX and a rematch against St. Mary's. The girls' next home game is January 29 when they host St. FX.

Men's basketball

University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds put forth a game effort against the Saint Mary's Huskies before falling 65-63 in Atlantic University Sport Men's Basketball Conference action in the Main Gym on the back end of the hoop doubleheader Friday.

The V-Reds, who fall to 4-5 on the season with the loss, led 20-16 after one quarter, trailed by a single point at the half, 32-31, led by three points 49-46 after 30 minutes, but couldn't hang on.

Colton Wilson led the UNB effort with 19 points. Guard William McFee had a dozen points and four assists and pulled down seven rebounds while Andrew Wright had nine points and dished five assists. Tony Fassett led the Huskies with 19 points and Joey Haywood added 16. Jerome Smith tossed in 11. The Huskies improve to 4-6 with the four point victory.