(Halifax, NS) The 2025-26 ACAA Women's Basketball Championship continued this afternoon with the second quarter-final matchup as the five-seed UNBSJ Seawolves upset the four-seed Holland College Hurricanes 65-55 Friday afternoon at the A. Garnet Brown Memorial Gymnasium.
An all-around performance from Avrey Alward (Saint John, NB) as she notched a double-double, tallying a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds, while recording 5 assists. Ava Sprague (Fredericton, NB) finished with 12 points and 4 assists. Rounding out the Seawolves performance, Ainsley Green (Perth-Andover, NB) added 9 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Nykeva Wilson-Brown (Halifax, NS) led the way for the Hurricanes as she recorded a game-high 21 points and 6 rebounds. Riley MacDonald (Timberlea, NS) contributed with 9 points, and 4 rebounds. Nadia Barrington (Truro, NS) chipped in with 8 points and 7 rebounds for the Hurricanes.
As the second quarter-final tipped off, the Seawolves struck first as Avrey Alward would connect on the mid-range jumper to open up the scoring. A few possessions later, the Hurricanes would get on the board when Karissa George (New Glasgow, NS) would anticipate the pass and pick off the cross-court pass. She would drive the lane and score easily in transition. As teams would go back and forth early in the quarter, the Hurricanes looked to push the pace in transition while the Seawolves looked to feed the post for close-range baskets. The Hurricanes would get on the board when Nykeva Wilson-Brown would push past the Seawolves in transition for a strong lay-up. The Seawolves would respond as Alward would continue to attack the Hurricanes down low with two more post-touch lay-ups to give the Seawolves an early 6-4 lead. After two made free throws by the Hurricanes, they would apply a full-court press where Wilson-Brown would intercept the pass and then find George in transition for an easy lay-up to give the Hurricanes a narrow lead mid-way through the quarter. The Hurricanes would continue to hustle and find ways to score as they would use an offensive rebound to find Riley MacDonald for three from the right wing. In the next possession for the Seawolves, they would find Maddie Baker as she would continue from range as well to cut the Hurricanes lead to 12-11. After an exchange of made free throws by each team, the score was deadlocked at 13 with less than a minute to play. The Seawolves would respond with a made three by Ava Sprague with 10 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes would respond as time expired when Wilson-Brown would connect on a fading two-point jump shot to cut the Seawolves' lead to 16-15 at the quarter's end.
As things looked to open up early on in the quarter, both teams would connect from range on their opening possessions. First, the Hurricanes would find Maryn Kline (Halifax, NS) open from the top of the key. Then, the Seawolves would find Laura Prekaj (Mississauga, ON) as their counter. It would be déjà vu in a few possessions, as Wilson-Brown would connect from the left wing and the Seawolves would instantly respond from deep as Eden Searles (Campbobello Island, NB) to neutralize the momentum shift. The Seawolves would continue their hot start to the quarter from deep as Baker and Searles could connect on consecutive attempts to stretch the five-seed Seawolves' lead to 30-21. Looking for a spark, the Hurricanes would turn to MacDonald and she would find the bottom of the nylon as she connected on her second three of the game to cut the lead to 30-24 for the Seawolves. The momentum shifted to the Hurricanes and the Seawolves needed to call a timeout to calm the storm. As both teams stalled to score, the Seawolves would find a way to score in transition as they would find Alward sprinting up the court past the defence for an easy lay-up to extend their lead to 33-25. The Hurricanes would look to ignite a late run in the court as Nadia Barrington would grab the defensive rebound and pushed past the Seawolves' defence for the driving lay-up. The Seawolves would respond again as Alward would score on consecutive possessions to stretch their lead 38-27. The Seawolves would end up taking a 38-29 lead into the half-time break.
Sprague would kick off the scoring in the second half as she would connect on a three from the right corner for the Seawolves. George would respond a few possessions later for the Hurricanes as she connected on a mid range jumper. Early on, in the third quarter, Alward would continue to impact the game for the Seawolves as she would drive towards the basket and find Searles and Sprague on consecutive possessions as they scored through the contact at the basket. Momentum would shift midway through the quarter to the Hurricanes when Barrington would find Ava Dormer (Annapolis Royal, NS) through a double team for a tough lay-up to narrow the Seawolves' lead to seven. With over three minutes to play in the quarter, off of an offensive rebound, Alward would find Ainsley Green on a back-cut where she would connect to extend the Seawolves' lead. Nevaeh O'Connell (Beechville, NS) would attack the basket and narrowed the lead to six. The Seawolves would score on consecutive possessions down low when Alward and Green would connect at the basket to extend their lead back to 10. In the final possession, with 0.4 seconds on the clock, Green would receive the entry pass and launched up a quick hook shot to beat the buzzer as the Seawolves would take a 53-41 lead into the final quarter.
As the fourth quarter started, both teams looked to punch their ticket into the semi-finals tomorrow. Defence picked up and the intensity ramped up as baskets were tough to come by in the fourth quarter. Through five minutes, both teams searched for the first made attempt in the quarter, Alward would answer for the Seawolves as she would connect on a deep three to extend the lead to 57-41, forcing the Hurricanes to call a timeout to recollect and focus on a late run. After a flurry of baskets by the Hurricanes, they were able to close the gap to 10 with 1:30 seconds remaining. Defensive pressure picked up for the Hurricanes, and they would translate defence to quick baskets. Sophie LeClair (Cornwall, PE) would crash the offensive glass, and score with 37 seconds remaining to narrow the lead to 61-55 for the Seawolves. Ultimately, the lead would be insurmountable for the Hurricanes, as the Seawolves would seal the victory with free throws in the final 30 seconds. The Seawolves secured a matchup with the top-seeded Tommies tomorrow after claiming the 65-55 victory.
Cleve's Source for Sports Player of the Game
Avrey Alward (UNBSJ Seawolves)
Nykeva Wilson-Brown (Holland College Hurricanes)
The UNBSJ Seawolves advance to tomorrow's semi-final matchup as they face the top seeded St. Thomas Tommies at 1:00 p.m.