The Saint Mary’s Huskies are moving on in the AUS women’s basketball playoffs by the skin of their teeth.

 

The third-seeded Huskies held off a spirited Axewomen team 64-63 Friday in quarter-final play at the conference championship tournament in Sydney.

 

The Huskies led most of the game, only to fall behind briefly by a single point in the late stages of the fourth quarter. Acadia missed a last-possession shot from the corner for the win.

 

Scott Munro’s Huskies, 12-8, entered hot with six wins down the stretch. Acadia went 7-13 in the regular season, but won four of their last six following a 10-game losing streak.

 

"We play Memorial now and that’s a team that beat us twice before Christmas in close games," Munro said after the game. "But we’re happy to be playing tomorrow and I think it’s a good opportunity."

 

Memorial, the second seed after a 13-7 season, beat the Huskies twice by three points in St. John’s, N.L.

 

Conference rookie of the year Justine Colley had 15 points to lead Saint Mary’s against the Axewomen. Kelsey Daley added 14 and Rebecca Nuttall 13.

 

Alise Brown had 14 and Keisha Brown 11 for Acadia.

 

In the other quarter-final, the No. 5 Dalhousie Tigers rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the No. 4 St. Francis Xavier X-Women 59-52.

 

Cailin Crosby and Brooke Sullivan each had 14 for the Tigers, who will face the top-seeded Cape Breton Capers, 19-1, in the semifinals.

 

Ashley Stephen had 14 and Camesha McKenzie and Katherine Kanaski 10 each for the X-Women.

 

The semifinal bracket begins tonight with Cape Breton playing Dalhousie at 6 p.m. Memorial and Saint Mary’s play at 8 p.m.

 

Sunday’s final is at 1 p.m. The AUS winner will represent the conference at nationals March 12-14 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

 

This page last modified Sunday, 07-Nov-2010 16:43:37 AST