UNB Shuts Down Feisty X Squad

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Varsity Reds pulled off their second victory of the weekend, 56-42 over the St. FX X-Women. UNB faced a much tougher opponent Sunday than Saturday, when they defeated the X-Women by 36. St. FX more than doubled their scoring output from the previous day, 42 to 18.

Katelyn Mangold(Peterborough, ON) was named the Subway Player of the Game. Her 20 points and 8 rebounds led the way for UNB.

Though not impressed with her team's first half performance, Mangold is content to end the weekend with two wins. "We came out really slow…we weren't taking good shots, we weren't making good reads, our passes were a little bit sloppy," she said. "But we came out in the second half and made good passes, we were calm on offence… we hung in there and got the results that we were hoping for this weekend."

Mangold's performance did not go unnoticed. Varsity Reds head coach Jeff Speedy was impressed. "She was fantastic today. I've never seen her put the ball on the floor from 16-feet out and attack the basket before. That's the kind of game that, to be honest, makes us unstoppable," said Speedy. "If we can get Katelyn playing like that, good luck trying to stop us."

Nicole LaFleur(Fredericton, NB) chipped in with 8 points and 5 rebounds, while Grace Simpson(Fredericton, NB) and Mikaela Dodig(Bolton, ON) added 6 rebounds each.

St. FX led after the first quarter 10-8, but the Varsity Reds clawed back early in the second and never looked back. UNB was up 21-20 at the half. The Varsity Reds started the 3rd on a 13-2 run, ending the quarter with a 40-32 lead.

X-Women head coach Augy Jones, who refused to speak with media following Saturday's loss, was in a much better mood Sunday, following a good performance from his team.

"I thought that we did a much better job competing today," he said. Coach Jones was very proud of his team's performance Sunday. "We didn't win the game, but I thought that we did the University much more of a service than we did last night."

Jeff Speedy wasn't as pleased, but took positives out of the game.

"We didn't execute our offence as well as we could have and we didn't shoot the ball as well as we should have," said Coach Speedy. "Defensively, holding any team in the AUS to the 40s is still a good game, so we have to be happy with that."

The Varsity Reds celebrated their annual Think Pink weekend on Saturday and Sunday, an initiative that Coach Speedy and his family hold close to their hearts. "[Think Pink] has kind of taken on a life of its own. It's becoming bigger than any one person, one game, one anything. It's neat to see."

With the win, the Varsity Reds improve to 13-5. They currently sit in third place, inching closer to a first-round playoff bye, two points away from the top two in the Atlantic University Sport standings.

The X-Women drop to 1-16.

Both teams will play next on Friday. UNB hosts first place Cape Breton for a huge 4-point game while St. FX will travel to Acadia.

RECAP BY: Kristian D'Amore/for UNB Athletics