Madison (Fredericton, NB) and Emily Owens (Fredericton, NB) combined for 28 points as St. Thomas came through with a comfortable 61-42 victory against UKC Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon. This was the first home game played at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym in 2022.
Fred Connors, STU head coach, spoke about how happy he felt to be back playing home games. "It's fantastic to be home and to be able to hear the crowd and feel good about going up and down the court was great," Connors said.
This was an even contest in the first half. Both teams were fighting for every possession and doing their best to keep the scoreboard ticking. The second half was a much different story. STU was able to contain UKC to only 13 points in the second half, three of which came in the 3rd quarter. What was even more surprising was that they managed to hold the league's top scorer, Jenna Bain, to just one point in the entire second half.
Madison and Emily do not only share a last name but they shared the spotlight in this game. They had very similar shooting stats throughout the game, with Madison being perfect from the free-throw line, and Emily being perfect from three-point range.
Connors spoke highly of Emily after her performance. He said, "She's really developed into a nice player and when she's on she can score in so many different ways and she's definitely playing her best basketball for us right now."
These efforts by both Owens were complemented by Vanessa Soffee (Fredericton, NB) and Kylee Roi (Saint John, NB), who stuffed the stats sheet with their points, rebounds, assists and steals.
The STU coach went on to explain how ready his team are for the top of the standings clash with MSVU in the next game. He explained, "It should be a really entertaining game and we just need to focus on our ball movement and focus on our defense, and if we're sharp, we could win this thing."
The Tommies will have that important clash on Sunday afternoon at Lady Beaverbrook while UKC's next scheduled game is on the February 27, when they host Mount Allison.
Recap: Brandon Salick