One game for all the marbles.
Both the St. Thomas University Tommies of Fredericton and host Mount St. Vincent University Mystics were breathing heavy sighs of relief following their respective Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association semifinals in Halifax on Saturday afternoon.
Both regular season champion St. Thomas and second seed Mount St. Vincent survived huge opposition pushes, but they both survived and will battle for the marbles Sunday at 1 p.m.
The winner will attend the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship later this month.
First, the Tommies.
Upset-minded University of New Brunswick at Saint John Seawolves, entering play as the No. 5 seed, bolted to a 20-8 first quarter lead over the Tommies and the fans were buzzing.
St. Thomas slowly worked its way back into a halftime lead, but UNBSJ refused to wilt and held various leads into the second half before the Tommies would outscore the ‘Wolves, 20-8 in the pivotal fourth quarter to punch their ticket to the final.
Katie Vidito sparked St. Thomas with 15 points. Charlee Connors had 13 and Alyssa Jeffrey and Paige LeBlanc both meshed 10.
Ainsley Green had 11 for UNBSJ and Avrey Alward added eight.
Both Green and Alward are teammates with the Maritime Women’s Basketball Associaton’s Port City Fog of Saint John.
Meanwhile, N0. 3 Mount Allison University Mounties were seeking an upset of No. 2 Mount St. Vincent, despite tra
ining 40-29 at the break. The Mounties would outscore the Mystics, 10-5 in the fourth quarter and a three-point bid from Grace Tilley missed with eight seconds to play, allowing Mount St. Vincent to escape with a 62-60 win and a date with the Tommies Sunday in the 1 p.m. final.
Celine Sterckel of the Mystics paced all scorers with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Tilley and Ava Godfrey both had 15 for Mount Allison. Kate Fillmore had 10 points and Danielle Alexander secured 10 rebounds for the Mounties.
Tilley and Alexander both play in the MWBA for Port City. Godfrey is with Miramichi Her-Icanes and Fillmore plays with Sterckel with the Moncton Mystics.
– Celine Sterckel helped lead MSVU to an ACAA final berth. (ACAA Photo)
