The ninth-ranked women's basketball team in the country dominated the UPEI Panthers in both games held this weekend at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre.
The Acadia Axewomen followed up a 86-54 drubbing Saturday with a 89-56 win Sunday, sending the Panthers into the break tied for last with a 1-5 record.
Guard Kristy Moore led Acadia with 20 points Sunday afternoon, while forward Abbey Duinker chipped in a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Panthers' guards Jenna Jones and Amy Gough countered with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Acadia stormed out to a 30-8 lead in the first quarter, and while the Panthers actually won the second quarter 17-14, the game was never close.
The Axewomen dominated the third quarter 23-9, and both teams netted 22 in the fourth quarter.
"We knew that we were going to be in tough," said head coach Carly Clarke post-game. "They provide us with some tough matchups and really, we're still struggling with consistency. We played even with them in the second quarter and the fourth quarter, and they kicked our butts in the first and the third. So we have to figure that out."
Clarke said her young players could only do so much.
"We were trying to focus on controlling what we could control today," she said. "That's a big step for our young team to stay in the moment, play present, and control what we could. I thought our team did a pretty good job of continuing to battle with some adversity today."
Captain Katie Moore said her team was very disappointed with the two losses.
Remaining positive when down by 30-plus points is hard, she said.
"Everybody comes together at that point and we just realize that we have so much more to give," said the Charlottetown-native. "We see the light,we just have to keep at it."
Moore vowed the club will practice hard over the break to prepare for the second half.
"We have to take the positives of the first half of the season," said Clarke. "We're disappointed after our showing this weekend, because we feel like we're better than this. We need to learn from it. The biggest
thing is that we don't quit."
On Saturday, Acadia guard Stefanie Chapman had 21 points to lead all scorers, while Duinker picked up 15.
Jones led the Panthers with 13, while guard Danielle MacDonald had 11.
