UNB Opens AUS Season With Win

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Varsity Reds opened the 2017-18 season on a winning note.

The V-Reds built a 16-point half time lead on the Cape Breton Capers on route to a 78-63 win.

Mikaela Dodig(Bolton, ON) scored 19 points to lead the Varsity Reds.

"There's still lots of stuff that we can improve on, even with a big win against a good team that pushed us out of the playoffs last year," said Dodig.

Hannah Brown(North Sydney, NS) led the Capers, scoring a game-high 21 points.

"At the end of the day we lost," said Brown. "This is a learning experience and we learned from that game and we'll move forward to the next one."

Emily Brown(Fredericton, NB) added 13 for UNB. She was named the Subway Player of the Game.

"I don't want to say we were expecting to win, because you never do, but we were certainly hoping after our last result against them that we'd be able to put out a similar effort after two more weeks of hard work," said MacLeod.

Dodig scored nine of her points in the first half, going three for four from three point range.

The Varsity Reds outscored the Capers 18-13 in the third quarter to lead 63-42 heading into the fourth.

Cape Breton won the final quarter 21-15, but it wasn't enough.

Even as they celebrated the win, the Varsity Reds acknowledged they will have to clean up their game.

"We lost our focus a little bit and I think we played to the score," said Dodig. "That's something we shouldn't do, we need to play the full 40 minutes."

"We had a few more turnovers than perhaps we'd like," said MacLeod. "But I think we were the aggressor tonight and we won some of those key 50-50 battles that decide the game.

Neither team will have to wait long to make the adjustments they say they need to make.

The Varsity Reds host the Capers again Saturday. Tip off is scheduled for 1:00pm at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.

RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics