CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Jenna Mae Ellsworth had 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals as the UPEI Panthers improved to 3-0 Friday with a 73-60 victory over the host St. FX X-Women in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) women’s basketball action.
The X-Women dropped to 0-2. The teams play again tonight at 6 p.m. in Antigonish, N.S.
Reese Baxendale had 13 points and rookie Lauren Rainford had 10 points in Friday’s victory. Carolina Del Santo had 10 rebounds, eight points, four steals and three assists while Karla Yepez had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Briar MacDonald and Kimberly Kingsbury had 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead the X-Women.
UPEI led 24-14 after the first quarter and grew the lead to 16 (42-26) at the half before taking a 59-44 advantage to the final quarter.
The Panthers had better shooting percentages from the field (35-25) and three-point territory (27-23) while the X-Women had the advantage at the free-throw line (72-63).
Men’s basketball
Justin Andrew’s jumper with 29 seconds left gave the host St. FX X-Men a 72-71 win over the Panthers in men’s basketball.
Azaro Roker had 17 points and 14 rebounds to pace the X-Men while Andrew chipped in 14 points.
Dakelle Brooks led the Panthers while 15 points while Elijah Miller had 13 and Jack MacAulay 12.
The Panthers jumped out to a 21-18 lead after the first quarter and grew the lead to 10 (43-33) at the half, but the X-Men stormed back to take a 57-56 lead heading to the fourth quarter after hitting 48 per cent of their field goal attempts.
UPEI shot better from the field (42-35 per cent), three-point territory (32-25) and free-throw line (82-57) but was out-rebounded 36-28.
The X-Men improved to 1-1 while the Panthers dropped to 1-2. They play again tonight at 8 p.m. in Antigonish.
Men’s hockey
Kyle Maksimovich and Kameron Kielly each had three-point nights to pace the UPEI Panthers to a 6-3 victory over the St. FX X-Men Friday in AUS men’s hockey action.
Maksimovich and Owen Headrick each scored twice in the win at MacLauchlan Arena while singles went to Kielly and Filip Rydstrom.
Kielly had two helpers while singles went to Maksimovich, Jordan Maher, Doug Blaisdell, Rydstrom, Jesse Annear, Conor MacEachern and Darian Pilon.
Mark Tremaine scored twice for the X-Men while Declan Smith had a single. Bryson Cianfrone and Cole MacDonald each had three assists.
Simon Hofley made 23 saves for the victory while Blade Mann-Dixon, a former Charlottetown Islander, made 28 stops on 33 shots in the loss. The Panthers added an empty-net goal.
St. FX was 2-for-7 on the power play while UPEI was 0-for-1. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period while UPEI took a 3-2 lead to the third.
The Panthers (3-6-2) visit Halifax today to play the Dalhousie Tigers (2-7-2) at 7 p.m. UPEI hosts Moncton (4-4-3) Wednesday at 7 p.m. The X-Men dropped to 5-5-2.
Women’s hockey
The Panthers (8-2-0) were off on Friday. They host Moncton (2-7-1) tonight at 7 p.m. and St. FX (6-3-1) Sunday at 3 p.m.
