AUS Women`s Basketball Preview; Colley vs. Colbourne in Fredericton the Main Event

It`s a battle of the top 2 scorers in the country when Justine Colley and the Huskies travel to Fredericton to play Claire Colbourne`s first place UNB Varsity Reds.

by Bill McLean

Put up your dukes.

The top two scorers in CIS women's basketball go head to head this weekend in Fredericton when the Saint Mary's Huskies (4-5, 10 pts) visit the UNB Varsity Reds (7-1, 18 pts) in a pivotal four point game.

The Huskie's Justine Colley leads the country in scoring with 24 points per game, while Claire Colbourne of the Reds is close behind averaging just over 22 points.

Colley, the second year dynamo from East Preston, is coming off a 33 point performance versus the Panthers at the Tower. Colbourne, a six foot freshman from Calgary, has been the biggest impact player in the country and has combined with veteran Amanda Sharpe (18 ppg) to propel the Reds to a #5 ranking in the CIS, one season after missing the AUS playoffs.

The fifth place Huskies have eight points in the standings on the line with their road trip to UNB and UPEI. The first place Reds will be looking to keep momentum building from their dominating two game sweep of the Memorial Seahawks last weekend.

In other women's basketball action:

Friday/Saturday – Acadia (4-4, 12 pts) at Cape Breton (6-3, 16 pts) - Outstanding battle of athletic basketball teams. The rejuvenated Axewomen travel to Sydney hot off back to back wins in Wolfville over Saint Mary's and St FX, riding the coattails of the CIS player of the week, Emma Duinker. Duinker averaged 24 ppg over the weekend for an Acadia team that is suddenly looking like an upper tier team in the conference. The Capers are coming off an upset loss to the Dalhousie Tigers due to an uncharacteristic fourth quarter collapse. The Capers may be hurting in the middle as Stephanie Toxopeus was noticeably hobbling on sunday versus the Tigers, and Denisha Haywood was benched for the remaining ten minutes of the 71-67 loss at Dalplex. However, 5th year senior Kari Everitt is back from injury and dominating once again. Everitt's sizzling two game performance versus the Tigers in which she totalled 51 points could have easily garnered her AUS player of the week honours.

Friday/Saturday – Memorial (4-4, 14 pts) at Saint Francis Xavier (5-2, 14 pts) – Doug Partridge's Seahawks are in uncharted territory coming off an unprecedented weekend long thrashing on their home court in St. John's. Memorial was outscored by the UNB Varsity Reds by a whopping 45 points in the two game set that had a lot of AUS pundits and observers rubbing their eyes in disbelief. The X-Women will be looking to rebound after an upset loss last weekend versus Acadia. The teams are currently tied for third place with 14 points each.

Friday- Dalhousie (2-5, 6 pts) at UPEI (0-8) – The Tigers have gone from a lock to finish seventh to an up and coming team hell bent on a playoff berth by virtue of one huge victory this past sunday. The Tiger's improbable win over the Capers has put the team only four points behind Saint Mary's for the last playoff spot and given hope to a group of youngsters that was supposed to be building towards next season. If Anna Stammberger's Tigers can travel to UPEI with a focused effort they should get 4 easy points and put themselves in position for a playoff run.

Saturday – Saint Mary's at UPEI- The return of Susanne Canvin to UPEI should be a romp for a Huskies team that will likely be coming off a loss to UNB and desperate for a four point win in the standings. However, Carly Clarke's rebuilding Panthers haven't won a conference game since Clarke took over at the start of the 2009 season. With the sixth and seventh place teams visiting this weekend, count on her hard working group of freshman and sophomores to make a serious charge at the Huskies and Tigers in Charlottetown.

Noteworthy Statlines from last weekend

(CIS Athlete of the Week) Emma Duinker, Acadia- 25 pts, 9 rebs vs. St FX (80-75 W)

Justine Colley, SMU- 33 pts, 6 rebs, 6 assists vs. UPEI (79-53 W)

Susanne Canvin, SMU- 11 pts, 16 rebs vs. UPEI (79-53 W)

Alexandria Forsey, MUN- 25 pts, 9 rebs vs. UNB (78-94 L)

Anna Von Maltzahn, Dalhousie- 18 pts, 10 rebs vs. CBU (71-67 W)

Leah Corby, UNB- 24 pts vs MUN (94-65 W)

Kari Everitt, CBU- 26 pts, 8 rebs vs. Dalhousie (77-66 W)

Patricia McNeil, Dalhousie- 24 pts vs. CBU (66--77 L)

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