Women鈥檚 Basketball
The Tigers started their holiday break by competing in the Thunder Selects Holiday Classic at Saint Mary鈥檚 University. They kicked-off the tournament against the Brock Badgers and went into halftime up by four points. The Badgers came flying out of the gate in the second half, and they outscored the Tigers 54-31, defeating the Tigers 86-67. Rebecca Nuttall had a team-high 15 points off the bench in the loss.
The next day they got off to a blistering start against Mount Royal, as their defence only allowed two points in the entire first quarter. They followed it up with another strong defensive effort in the second quarter, and they led 34-10 going into halftime. This would prove to be enough, as the Tigers went on to win 66-47 despite being out-scored again in the second half. The Tigers got another strong performance from one of their reserves, but this time it was Shalyn Field. She led the Tigers with 12 points and seven rebounds in the blowout win.
They finished off the tournament against the University of Toronto. They jumped out to a 30-22 lead in the first quarter and a 27 point performance from Kristy Moore propelled them to an 84-78 victory to cap off the tournament.
They then headed to Mount Saint Vincent (ACAA) to compete in the Dyrick McDermott Invitational tournament. They opened the tournament against the host MSVU Mystics and came away with a 69-50 victory after Courtney Thompson and Shalyn Field put up 16 and 14 point performances, respectively. Later that day, the Tigers won by their largest margin of the season when they blew out the Mount Allison Mounties 92-35. Robbi Daley was named the player of the game after dropping a team-high 15 points.
On the second day of the tournament, the Tigers blew out another ACAA team, this time it was the St. Thomas Tommies on the wrong side of an 80-39 defeat. Tessa Stammberger was named the player of the game as she tied Courtney Thompson with a game-high 15 points.
The final day saw the Tigers face a team made up of former AUS all-stars, which included former Tigers stars Keisha Brown and Cailin Crosby, in the championship game. Courtney Thompson led the Tigers with a game-high 23 points and the Tigers defeated the all-stars 74-58, winning the title.
They鈥檒l kick off the second half of their AUS season with a two-game set against the Cape Breton Capers on Friday. Tip-off is at 6:00pm.
Men鈥檚 Basketball
The Tigers kicked off the Rod and Joan Shoveller Memorial tournament with an emphatic 89-38 victory over the MSVU Mystics on Friday night. It was a good tune-up game for the Tigers as they came out of the holiday break, and it was a good opportunity for Rick Plato to try different lineup combinations against his former team.
Jarred Reid led the Tigers with a team-high 16 points, while Sven Stammberger added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds on 5-6 shooting from the field. Sean Dodds was named the player of the game.
The win pitted the Tigers against the McGill Redmen in the semifinals on Saturday night. After getting out to a 15 point lead going into halftime, the Tigers were rock solid in the second half, maintaining their lead on th way to a 64-50 victory. The Tigers defence forced the Redmen into 22 turnovers on the night, and they capitalized, scoring nearly a third of their points (18) off turnovers. Devon Stedman led the Tigers with 14 points and eight rebounds in the win, while third-year point guard Ritchie Kanza Mata was named the player of the game after registering eight assists, five steals, four points and three boards.
On Sunday, they tipped off against the CIS No. 2 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees in the championship final on Sunday afternoon. After getting down 21-13 in the first quarter, the Gee-Gees built up a 16 point lead going into halftime.
After a frustrating third quarter, Kashrell Lawrence scored seven points and the Tigers opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run but it wasn鈥檛 enough to overcome the deficit as the Gee-Gees went on to win the championship. Lawrence had a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds in the loss, while Devon Stedman added eight points and eight boards. Tigers guards Ritchie Kanza Mata and Jarred Reid were named to the tournament all-star team.
They鈥檒l get back on the court on Friday when they open a two-game set on the road against the UPEI Panthers.
Women鈥檚 Hockey
The Tigers opened 2015 by splitting a pair of games at St. Thomas. On Saturday, the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and ended up defeating the UPEI Panthers 3-1. Maggie Beaton scored just 20 seconds into the game and Lisa MacLean followed it up just 2:30 later and the Tigers led 2-0 after the first period. After a scoreless second period, MacLean added her second of the game early in the third period to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. The Panthers would go on to score later in the third period, but it wasn鈥檛 enough as the Tigers won 3-1.
Jeanne Morin made 30 saves in the win for the Tigers, who made the most of their chances on the powerplay, going 2-4 on the night.
On Sunday, the Tigers travelled to Fredericton to face the St. Thomas Tommies. The Tommies scored once in both the first and second periods and the Tigers trailed 2-0 going into the third. Maggie Beaton and Courtney Sheedy both scored in the opening five minutes of the frame to make it a 2-2 game. The Tommies responded a few minutes later but Morgan Kidney knotted the game up at three just 40 seconds later. With the game looking like it鈥檇 be headed for overtime, the Tommies snuck a powerplay goal past Jessica Severeyns with under two minutes left and the Tigers couldn鈥檛 find an equalizer in the dying minutes and they would go on to lose 4-3.
They鈥檒l be back on the ice on Friday when they face the StFX X-Women in Antigonish. Puck drop is at 7:00pm.
Men鈥檚 Hockey
On Saturday, the Tigers couldn鈥檛 pull out a win against the first-place Acadia Axemen at home. Kendall MacInnis opened the game with a goal off a feed from Andrew Langan five minutes into the game, but the Axemen fired back with two goals as the Tigers trailed 2-1 going into the first intermission.
After a scoreless second period, the Tigers gave up a shorthanded goal in the third period but Fabian Walsh scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season to make it a one-goal game with five minutes left. The Axemen added an empty-netter as they went on to defeat the Tigers 4-2.
Corbin Boes made 42 saves in the loss for the Tigers, who will be back on the ice when they take on the StFX X-Men at home on Friday. Puck drop is at 7:00pm.
Men鈥檚 Volleyball
The Tigers travelled to St. Petersburg, Florida to compete in the 2015 Alden Cup to compete against some of the best teams in the CIS. They opened the tournament on New Year鈥檚 Day against the CIS No. 3 ranked Brandon Bobcats. After taking the first set 25-20, the Tigers dropped the next three sets (25-21, 27-25, 25-21) as they lost the game 3-1. They followed the loss up the next day with a dominating 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) win over the University of Calgary, who have been ranked as high as sixth in the CIS this season.
After their commanding victory over Calgary, the Tigers rattled off another 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) win against Mount Royal, who are currently ranked ninth in the CIS. On the final day of competition, the Tigers grinded out a 3-2 win (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12) against the CIS No. 10 Manitoba Bisons. After dropping the first set, the two teams split the next two sets and the Tigers went into the fourth set down 2-1. They took the final two sets and finished the tournament with an impressive 3-1 victory.
They鈥檒l get back on the court on January 16 when they face the Montreal Carabins in the third AUS-RSEQ event in Laval.