Panthers crush UNB, advance to face second-seeded Tigers

With the final score of 65-45, the UPEI Panthers ran circles around the UNB Varsity Reds in the second quarterfinal of the Atlantic University Sports (AUS) women’s basketball championships Thursday night.

UPEI jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, racking up 20 points to UNB’s nine. With their crisp, organized passes, the Panthers scored another 17 points in the second quarter, 17 points in the third and another 11 in their fourth.

UNB couldn’t keep pace, scoring only six points in the second, 13 in the third and a leap to 17 points in the fourth.

“I don’t think we were expected to win by 20,” says the UPEI head coach Brent Stocker. “We have handled UNB before. But during playoff time everyone is 0-0 and records don’t matter. We just prepared and hope we come out of it with a win.”

Amy Gough was the star player in the game, scoring a game-high 18 points.

“You have to go in with a level head. But the way we showed throughout the season we kind of expected to come out of this one tonight,” she says. “We just needed to go out and work hard and stick to the game plan – so we knew we were going to win.”

The Panthers will take on the Dalhousie Tigers in the second semifinal on Saturday. Stocker says it will be all about keeping up their momentum in the next game.

“I think it’s easy for them to stay self motivated,” says Stocker. “We practiced hard all year so they know it’s a lot on the line and they are an easy group to coach.”

Gough thinks if her team plays like the way they did Thursday, they have a good chance of beating the Tigers.

“You just have to regroup, move on to the next team,” says Gough. “We just have to follow the game plan and hope at the end the results are going to be there.”