St. John's, NL - The Memorial Sea-Hawks defeated the UNB Reds 79-74 on Saturday, January 20th at the MUN fieldhouse in AUS Women's basketball action.
The Reds gained the jump ball and held the first possession. The first basket of the game was a 3-pointer by Red's #9 Jayda Veinot. The next basket was a layup from Sea-Hawks #15 Hannah Green. The Reds were quick on their feet from the first whistle creating some fancy offense but gained three quick defensive fouls allowing Memorial to net all 5 foul shots. Halfway through the first quarter, the Sea-Hawks were up 14-13. The score remained close throughout the quarter with both teams playing a fast and competitive game. The Reds tied the game at 19 a piece with a layup from #21 Katie Butts and a go ahead basket by #6 Ann Bastien. When the buzzer rang, the Reds gained the lead 23-21 with 7 players already adding to the scoreboard. Memorial had only 4 players add to their score but Alyssa Jenkins netted 8 points in the first 10 minutes to help her team.
Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat opened the second quarter scoring with two quick 3-pointers. The Reds got a 3-pointer of their own between the two by #4 Kylee Speedy who gained another shortly after. The teams continued to trade leads with the help of an abundance of 3-pointers from each side. After Reds #4 Kylee Speedy netted her third 3 of the quarter, the Sea-Hawks called a timeout in hopes of ending her streak. After 2 quick baskets for the Sea-Hawks and a third second quarter foul by the Reds, the Reds called a timeout in attempt to regain the game as it sat at 34-32 for Memorial. Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat tightened her defence and started denying Reds #4 Kylee Speedy the chances to get any more 3's. This however did not stop her teammates as #8 McKinley Bezanson stepped up. After a Sea-Hawks timeout, both teams managed a singular basket each before the Reds called a timeout of their own as the scoreboard read 43-42 for the Reds. Following this timeout, the Reds gained 2 baskets off of turnovers by Memorial who gained a singular basket by #4 Malva Ekelof
At half the score was 47-44 for the visiting Reds. Point leader was Reds #4 Kylee Speedy who netted 17 points, 5 of her baskets being 3-pointers. Behind her is Sea-Hawks #7 Alana Short with 13.
First basket of the second half was a layup by Reds #22 Jennifer Nkuah which was counteracted by a layup from Sea-Hawks #10 Alyssa Jenkins. With the game tied at 49 a side, the Sea-Hawks held their zone and ran down the entire shot clock without allowing a shot attempt from the Reds. halfway through the third quarter, the Sea-Hawks held a shy 2-point lead at 55-53. With both teams in high spirits, they upped the aggressiveness playing a strong defensive quarter. As the Sea-Hawks squeaked ahead by 6 points, the Reds proactively called a timeout with a little over 3 minutes left in the quarter to try and kill the Sea-Hawks momentum. Both teams continued their strong defense and the next baskets came as 2 successful foul shots for the Reds with a minute and a half left in the quarter. As the clock ran out, the Sea-Hawks held onto their slight lead as they netted 63 points to their opposing team's 59.
Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat lengthened their lead off her third 3-pointer of the game to open the final quarter. Following a layup by Reds #21 Katie Butts, Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat sunk another 3-pointer to put herself right behind Reds #4 Kylee Speedy with 5 this game. With a little over 5 minutes left in the game, the Sea-Hawks called a timeout striving to hold onto or extend their current 4 point lead. Entering the last 5 minutes, the Reds forced the Sea-Hawks to run out their shot clock as well proving that both teams defensive strategies were shining. With 2 minutes remaining, Reds key player #21 Katie Butts gained her 5th foul of the game to put her off the court. After a couple of unsuccessful plays from both sides, a timeout was called by Memorial as they held onto their 5-point lead with a minute remaining. A 3-pointer by Reds #13 Leah Travers got her team back in the game and cut the Sea-Hawks lead to 2. A quick foul by the Reds led to Sea-Hawks #10 Alyssa Jenkins netting both her foul shots to extend the Sea-Hawks lead to 4 with 22 seconds left in the game. This forced the Reds into a timeout that led to an unsuccessful basket attempt and a foul. Sea-Hawks #24 Brooke LeDevehat sunk a foul shot to gain a promising 79-74 lead on home court. The Reds called another desperate timeout with 13 seconds left. The buzzer drained and the Sea-Hawks held onto the lead and ended the game in a 79-74 lead.
Game point leader was Sea-Hawks #7 Alana Short with 21. Short also gained a double-double as she hoisted 10 rebounds. Behind her tied with 19 were teammate #24 Brooke LeDevehat and opponent #4 Kylee Speedy.
The Sea-Hawks return to action on January 26th on the road where they will face the Dalhousie Tigers at 6:00 pm AST. The Reds take on the Cape Breton Capers on Sunday January 28th at 1:00 pm AST. Both games can be watched online at https://austv.ca/ .
Photo Credits: Udantha Chandraratne