Reds Run At AUS Championship Ends

(HALIFAX, NS) The UNB Reds run at the Atlantic University Sport Championships has come to an end.

The Reds fell 73-60 to the UPEI Panthers in Saturday's semi-final match, at the Scotiabank Centre, in Halifax.

"It'll hurt for a long time because we didn't play well and didn't have a chance to win, which is tough," said Reds head coach Jeff Speedy. "And we graduate quite a few kids, which is always tough."

UNB advanced to the conference semi-final with Friday's 64-59 win over the Cape Breton Capers.

Saturday's semi-final game began with a big Grace Simpson (Fredericton, NB) block which led to the game's first basket, by Eva Tumwine (Fredericton, NB).

With the game barely two minutes old, Jolianne Guay (Prevost, QC) hit a three-point shot to put the Reds up 7-2. Then, with UNB leading 11-8, Mikaela Dodig hit a three of her own, pushing the Reds lead to six points.

Katie Daley (Hanwell, NB) scored a basket and drew a foul, late, and the Reds led 17-15 after the first ten minutes of play.

In the second quarter, the Reds struggled to re-discover their offence, and Speedy called an early time-out.

Mid-way through the third, UPEI led 23-17. The Panthers extended their lead to 26-17, before Bailey Black's (Miramichi, NB) three-pointer with 3:17 remaining, made it 26-20. The points were UNB's first of the second quarter.

Black hit another three with just under a minute to play, making the score 33-23 at the end of the half.

UNB went on a bit of a run to start the third quarter, pulling to within three points, at 37-34, but that's as close as the Panthers would allow the Reds to get.

UPEI pushed back, leading 48-36 with 2:06 to play in the third, and 53-38 after three quarters.

Black hit her third three of the game early in the fourth, as the Reds clawed to within 14, but the Panthers, who finished first overall during the regular season, proved to be too much down the stretch, holding on for the 73-60 victory.

"We really stopped moving the ball offensively in the second quarter and started making a lot of individual defensive mistakes," said Speedy. "I don't think I did a really good job of figuring out things to do offensively to get us back into the rhythm that we had early in the game, so that's going to drive me insane for a long time. If you put your best foot forward and lose, you can keep your head up, but it's hard to keep our head up now because the girls didn't play well and this is as bad a game as I've coached in a while."

Tumwine led the Reds with 15 points, while Black added 11 off the bench. Dodig scored 13 points and added five assists.

AUS MVP Jenna Mae Ellsworth (Charlottetown, PE) scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Panthers.

"I don't think we did our job on defence, especially guarding their guards," said Simpson. "They have the AUS MVP on their team and she just got too many lay-ups."

While the Panthers advance to Sunday's AUS Championship Game, the Reds re-group and begin looking towards next season.

UNB graduates a handful of players, including Tumwine and Simpson, who've played out their eligibility.

"I'm sad that we lost, clearly, but I'm thankful for the experience I had with all the girls," said Simpson. "We had a really good team this year. It didn't end the way we wanted, but you can't forget that we did win yesterday, and it's been a long time since a UNB women's team has won a playoff game, so it's a step forward for our program."

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Nick Pearce/for Atlantic University Sport