(FREDERICTON, NB) The final night of the Atlantic University Sport women's basketball regular season was also Jeff Speedy's final night working the sidelines at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.
In Speedy's final home game before transitioning to a new role within UNB's athletic department, the Acadia Axewomen beat his REDS 82-75 in a four-point game.
"I'm not thrilled about the outcome, but we got down 18 and battled back and made a game of it, so there's a lot to be proud of in our effort in the last 10 minutes of the game," said Speedy. "It's something to build on. I think we gained a little confidence in that we can play with this team after they blew us out down in their gym. Hopefully we'll get another chance."
The Axewomen were led by Lizzie Iseyemi (Dartmouth, NS), who scored 23 points on 8 of 17 shooting, and was named Subway Player of the Game.
"I think we definitely battled," said Iseyemi. "It was a gritty team win, for sure. This could be a potential playoff match-up, so we were making sure we got things down and are ready for playoffs next week."
It took both teams a little time to settle into the game. The first basket wasn't scored until the 1:25 mark of the first quarter.
Led by former Axewomen Jayda Veinot (Port Williams, NS) and Katie McAffee (Lower Knoxford, NB), the REDS established a 21-18 first quarter lead.
McAffee sunk a three-point shot to start the second, boosting UNB's lead to five, but the Axewomen wouldn't allow the REDS to extend that lead.
Less than four minutes into the second, Acadia went ahead 31-29, their first lead of the game.
With the Axewomen ahead by five, Kylee Speedy (Fredericton, NB) hit a long three-pointer to pull the REDS within two, at 40-38, and that's how the teams went to the half-time break.
On Acadia's opening possession of the second half, Haley McDonald (Port Williams, NS) dropped a three-point shot of her own to push the Axewomen lead to 43-38, part of a 9-2 Acadia run.
In the fourth, the REDS were able to close the gap to just three-points, but couldn't get any closer.
With under a minute to play, Acadia led 80-75 and the Axewomen hung on to win 82-75.
"We showed that we can play with them," said REDS' guard Marley Curwin (Halifax, NS), after playing her final game on the Currie Center court. "We know what we have to fix, but we showed a lot of fight tonight. It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we were proud of how we were playing, and it showed."
Veinot finished with a game-high 24 points for UNB, while Speedy came off the bench to drop 14.
McDonald, like Iseyemi, scored 23 for Acadia.
"Once the ball was thrown up, I was fine for the next hour and a half, but today was the longest, most exhausting day of my life," said Coach Speedy. "From the texts and phone calls and messages I got, I had a hard time keeping it together, had a hard time focusing all day. The hour we had for practice and the hour and a half game, I was fine, but outside of that, it was tough."
The REDS finish the season with a 12-8 record, in 4th place in the AUS standings.
The Axewomen, who locked up top spot a while ago, finish the season 16-3.
Acadia has earned a first-round bye at next weekend's Subway AUS Championship tournament.
"We have to execute and be consistent," said Iseyemi. "In playoffs everyone is playing their best basketball and we have to make sure we're one of those teams doing that."
The REDS will face the Memorial Sea-Hawks in a quarter-final game scheduled for 1:00pm, Friday, at Scotiabank Centre, in Halifax.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Cameron Fitch/UNB Media Services