THE MATCHUP
The Sea-Hawks will look to build on their last weekend's sweep of the Capers and provide strong performances against Acadia this weekend. The two teams met 5 times last season, splitting 4 clashes during the regular season, with Acadia prevailing in the last meeting in the AUS Championship Finals. Both teams will look to continue their recent run and earn wins that will establish them at the top of the AUS standings.
Acadia Axewomen finished the 2018-2019 regular season 3rd with a record of 13 wins and 7 losses. However, their from improved towards the playoffs, resulting in their second title in row. This year, they will be led by the same dynamic duo of guards as last year, Haley McDonald and Jayda Veinot. Veinot, last year AUS Rookie of the Year is sensational this season as she is leading the league in scoring with 27.5 points per game while shooting 96 percent on 7 attempted free-throws. Last year's Championship MVP McDonald is looking pretty strong this year as well, as she is averaging almost 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game so far this season. The two-time champion will be in her 5th year this season and will look to provide leadership both off and on the court for the Axewomen. Another important player in Acadia's core this year will be Sarsha Cadle, a 3rd year forward from Melbourne, Australia. Cadle is providing a strong inside presence ranking second in the AUS in rebounds per game with 8.8 and fifth in assists with 3 per game. Rachel Clouatre-Trudeau, a 3rd year wing from St. Jean sur Richelieu, QC, is adjusting well to her new starting role and providing solid performances for Acadia in the 4 wins they have so far. With much firepower that carried over from last season, the Axewomen look poised to make run at the championship once again and make it three titles in the last three years.
HAWKS EYE
The Sea-Hawks are coming off of an impressing weekend against the Capers in which they secured two wins and improve their record to 3-1. Memorial is awaiting the match-up against the Axewomen in good form and will be looking to give them the first loss of the season. In order to do that, Sea-Hawks will have to rely on their big three of Haille Nickerson, Alana Short, and Samantha Deakin-Sharpe.
Nickerson is coming off of a historic performance last weekend, when she broke the record for most points in a single game with 42 of them. Adding 8.5 rebounds and 3 steals per game over the last weekend, Nickerson showed versatility on both offensive and defensive end and will look to continue providing excellent performances this weekend against Acadia.
When asked about breaking the record, Nickerson said: "It is such an honor to have broken the record held by a MUN basketball great, Jenine Brown. I couldn't do it without my teammates and coaches believing in me, and I am so happy that we came out with 2 wins this weekend".
Short once again provided all-around effort and handled the pressure well as she was exceptional in late game situations. She scored 17 points on average this weekend, while also grabbing 8.5 rebounds and dishing 3 assist per game.
"Coach always reminds us to never get too high or too low", Short said. "We are going to take the positives and negatives that we learned from our games against CBU to improve and, hopefully, this will help us come out with two more wins against Acadia this weekend. "
Deakin-Sharpe was providing excellent decision making throughout the last weekend, averaging 14 points in the two games. She was also very good defensively and will look to continue to provide valuable minutes off the bench for the Sea-Hawks. Deakin-Sharpe talked about the upcoming weekend:
"It's huge getting two wins on the road and we definitely want that momentum to carry over into practice this week, however Acadia is an entirely different team and we have to refocus and prepare well so we will be ready to play 40 hard minutes against them."
The defense of both Deakin-Sharpe and Jane Baird, a 5th year guard from St. John's, will be crucial for the Sea-Hawks in this weekend's match-up against Acadia. Memorial will have to contain Veinot and McDonald in order to have success this weekend and make their way to the top of the conference.
COACHES COMMENTS
Head Coach Mark English was pleased with his team performance over the last weekend. When asked about how satisfied he was with the team, he said: "It was definitely a step in the right direction for our team this season getting two wins on the road at CBU. I was happy with our effort and how we responded when times got tough".
English believes that the Sea-Hawks will have to play good on the defensive end in order to get good results against the Axewomen.
"We face a big challenge in Acadia this weekend, as they have arguably the two best guards in the league and score at the highest rate in the AUS", English stated. "We will need a solid week of prep and focus to find a way to slow them down on the offensive end in order to give ourselves a chance to be successful".
Memorial will look to play solid defense throughout the weekend in order to stop the Axewomen and with a solid outing, might even finish at the top of the standings next week.
Written by Kosta Tiodorovic