Women’s Basketball
The Tigers improved to 4-2 on the season this weekend as they split a pair of four-point games against the Saint Mary’s Huskies and the Acadia Axewomen.
On Friday the Tigers hosted the Saint Mary’s Huskies, who entered the game undefeated with a 4-0 record. Up by eight points going into halftime, the Tigers let their lead slip away in the second half as their offense sputtered against a strong Huskies defense. The Tigers were up by one with 30 seconds left, but the Huskies managed to block Deidre Alexander’s shot and they went the other way to tie the game on free throws, sending it to OT. The Tigers just couldn’t pull out a W in the extra frame and they fell 51-49. Tessa Stammberger had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, while Courtney Thomson had a game-high 22 points to lead the Tigers.
On Saturday they faced the winless Acadia Axewomen in Wolfville. The Tigers pounced on the Axewomen early, jumping out to a 20-5 lead in the first quarter. They’d keep up the pressure all game long and they went wire-to-wire to beat the Axewomen handily for the crucial 64-43 win. The duo of Stammberger and Thompson led the way for the Tigers again, with Thompson adding 24 points, seven boards and six assists on 9-13 shooting, while Stammberger had ten points, nine boards and six assists.
The Tigers 4-2 record ties them with UNB for second place in the AUS. The game also wraps up the first half of their season as they head into the holiday break. They’ll be back on the court January 9 when they take on the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown.
Men’s Basketball
Remember that time last year when the Tigers were 1-6 heading into the holiday break? They’ve certainly turned things around this year and have put the AUS on notice as they improved to 5-1 over the weekend. They are now in first place in the AUS heading into the break.
On Friday they faced the rival Saint Mary’s Huskies in a pivotal four-point game. They surged to a 22-9 lead after the first ten minutes of play and they never looked back as they pounded the Huskies 72-54. The Tigers had five players in double figures, and Kashrell Lawrence and Jarred Reid both had a game-high 16 points in the victory. Lawrence had a monster game inside as he had his way with the Huskies defenders, and he added nine rebounds and he came up with five steals on the night.
On Saturday, the Tigers were on the road as they took on Shaq Smith and the Acadia Axemen. After holding a five point lead at halftime, the Tigers shut down the Axemen and outscored them 39-24 in the second half, coming away with a 77-57 victory. Ritchie Kanza Mata came up big with a team-high 19 points, six rebounds and five steals. Jarred Reid added 13 points of his own to go along with six rebounds.
Now at 5-1, the Tigers have finished the first half of their regular season as they head into the holiday break. They’ll be back on the court after Christmas when they host the annual Rod & Joan Shoveller Memorial Tournament.
Women’s Hockey
The Dalhousie Tigers got back in the win column on Wednesday night with a 5-4 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies. The Huskies pounced on the Tigers early scoring two goals in the first six minutes to make it 2-0. The Tigers went on to score four unanswered goals giving them a 4-2 lead early in the third period. Janelle Rogers answered just three minutes after the Tigers fourth goal trimming the deficit to one. After Jesse Reitveld scored with 41 seconds left to make it a 5-3 game for the Tigers, the Huskies answered yet again when Sarah Douglas scored with 30 seconds left to make it a one goal game. Mati Barrett turned aside a last second shot by Mary Worndl and the Tigers held on for the 5-4 victory.
The Tigers couldn’t scrape out a W in their lone game this weekend against the UPEI Panthers. The Panthers built up a 3-0 lead on the strength of a powerplay that went 2-3 for the night. Jesse Reitveld scored a powerplay marker in the final minute to make it a 3-1 game, but that’s the way it would finish as the Tigers dropped to sixth in the AUS with a 4-7 record. They’ll be back on the ice on Friday night when they hit the road to take on the 4-7-1 Mount Allison Mounties. Puck drop is at 7:00pm.
Men’s Hockey
After suffering two loses this weekend the Tigers sit seventh in the AUS with a record of 4-9-1.
The St. Thomas Tommies recorded their first win of the season on Friday night, beating Dalhousie 4-0. The Tigers found themselves down early as Eric Diodati and Colin Martin scored 13 seconds apart putting the Tommies up 2-0. St. Thomas added another before the end of the frame giving them a commanding 3-0 lead after one period. Steven Janes scored the fourth and final goal of the game late in the second period making it 4-0 Tommies.
It was a heart-breaking overtime loss on Saturday for the Tigers as they fell 3-2 to the UPEI Panthers. The Panthers held a 1-0 lead after the first but Andrew Wigginton scored his second of the season on the powerplay to knot the game at one midway through the first period. The Panthers added another just five minutes later, and the Tigers trailed 2-1 heading into the third period.
Nearly ten minutes into the third period, Steven Johnston scored his second of the year off a feed from JP Harvey to tie the game at two goals apiece and the game headed into overtime. It was the Panthers who would come out on top as Marcus Power found the back of the net as he put one past Corbin Boes to lift the Panthers to victory over the Tigers, who now sit in seventh in the AUS.
They’ll be back on the ice on Wednesday when they face the Acadia Axemen on the road.
Men’s Volleyball
All good things must come to an end.
The Tigers undefeated streak was snapped at eight games, as they went 2-1 at the second AUS-RSEQ interlock event in Montreal over the weekend. They opened the weekend with a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-23) victory over Sherbrooke as Bryan Duquette and Kristen O’Brien combined for 23 kills and 15 digs to lead the Tigers.
On Saturday, the Tigers faced Laval and they dropped the first set 25-16. The Tigers rallied back to win a marathon 32-30 second set to tie the game at one. The teams split the next two sets setting the stage for an exciting fifth and final set. It was the Tigers who would end up on the losing end of things, as they suffered their first loss of the season. Duquette came up huge again for the Tigers, recording 17 kills and 14 digs in the loss.
Later in the day the Tigers faced the host Montreal Carabins. After dropping the first set, it was the Tigers who came out on top in a thrilling five-set match as they won 3-2 (25-27, 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 15-12) to end their weekend with a 2-1 record and a 9-1 record on the season. Kristen O’Brien had a team-high 17 kills in the win for the Tigers, while Jonathan MacDonald had 16 digs.
Their 9-1 record gives them a commanding grip on first place in the AUS, where they lead by ten points. They’ll take a break for the holidays and they won’t be back on the court again until the next AUS-RSEQ interlock event on January 16, which takes place at Laval.
Swimming
Both teams came out victorious at the AUS Invitational swim meet at the Dalplex this weekend. The women’s team finished with 244 points while the men’s team had 245.5 points of their own. On the first day, Rachel Shin, Paige Crowell and Meagan Bernier all stood atop the podium for the women’s team, while Tony Liew, Sean Berrigan and Kyle Watson came away victorious for the men. Liew broke a 14 year-old AUS record in the 50m men’s breaststroke as he beat the record by 0.16 seconds.
On the second day, the Tigers improved their season total to 18 CIS-qualifying times on their way to victory. Meagan Bernier, Rachel Shin and Lucy MacLeod won their respective events, while Liew, Watson, Berrigan and Keenan Teghtsoonian were victorious for the men.
The Tigers will be back in the pool next weekend for the Nova Scotia Open Championships.