(Halifax, NS) The 2025-26 ACAA Women's Basketball Championship continued this afternoon with the first semi-final matchup as the one-seeded St. Thomas Tommies held off the five-seeded UNBSJ Seawolves 61-48 Saturday afternoon at the A. Garnet Brown Memorial Gymnasium. The Tommies advanced to the championship game tomorrow afternoon as they await their opponent. 

Katie Vidito (Charlottetown, PE) paced the Tommies' offence, notching a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while contributing 4 assists. Charlee Connors (Fredericton, NB) added 13 points and 9 rebounds for the Tommies while Alyssa Jeffrey (Sussex, NB) chipped in with 10 points and 4 rebounds. 

Laura Prekaj (Mississauga, ON) led the way for the Seawolves, notching a double-double in defeat. She finished with a team-high 14 points, and 12 rebounds. Ainsley Green (Perth-Andover, NB) contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Seawolves. Rounding out the offensive production for the Seawolves, Maddie Baker (Oxford, NS) tallied 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. 

The semi-final matchup kicked off early Saturday afternoon, and both teams opened the game ready to battle for 40 minutes. The Seawolves would open up the scoring first when Ainsley Green would seal her defender down low and Avrey Alward (Saint John, NB) would find her for the easy lay-up. Paige LeBlanc (New Maryland, NB) would counter for the Tommies with a quick attack to the basket where she rose over her defender. The Seawolves would continue to use Alward as their facilitator after she would find Green off the screen and roll for the easy two points to give them an early 6-2 advantage. On the next possession for the Seawolves, Ava Sprague (Fredericton, NB) would catch the ball on the left wing and rise up for open three to extend their lead to seven. There is something about a championship berth on the line that brings out that extra hustle, and early on in this match, both teams were diving on loose balls look to gain extra possessions for their team. Laura Prekaj of the Seawolves would convert her hustle plays into easy baskets and she gained extra possessions that contributed to the Seawolves early lead. First, she gained an extra possession for them fighting for a jump ball, leading to her lay-up. She would then crash the offensive glass for a vital rebound that lead to her and-one finish that put them up 14-4 with four minutes to play in the quarter. Laura Prekaj continued to be the Seawolves X-factor this afternoon, driving through the Tommies' defence and finding Alward at the top of the key for a mid-range jumper. Alyssa Jeffrey would respond for the Tommies with a driving lay-up but this quarter belonged to the Seawolves as Llorena Prekaj (Mississauga, ON) would sub into the game and downed the mid-range jumper to extend their lead to 12. The Seawolves' defence limited the Tommies' attack to a 3/19 (15.8) from the field as they led 20-8 at the first quarter break. 

Looking to reverse the results of the first quarter, the Tommies would pick up their defensive intensity forcing the Seawolves into early turnovers. Katie Vidito would steal the ball from the Seawolves' guard and finished a lay-up in an attempt to swing the momentum to the top seed Tommies. Charlee Connors would let her presence know, powering her way to the basket to cut the Seawolves' lead to eight. The Seawolves would call a timeout in hopes to capture back the momentum. The Tommies would continue to apply constant pressure when Claudia Steeves (St. John's, NL) would drive to the basket and scored through the contact while drawing a foul. At the midway point, the Tommies' defence would be a key contributor to their run as the Seawolves remained scoreless when Connors' lay-up would cut the Seawolves' lead to 2. Reagan Kerr (Fredericton, NB) would sub into the game and give the Tommies' their first lead of the game when she drained the quarter three to put the top seed up 21-20. Laura Prekaj would get the Seawolves back on the board when she hit a contested fall away mid-range jumper over her defender. Alward would swipe away from the ball from the Tommies and the ball would find Maddie Baker in transition as she would score the uncontested lay-up. On the following possession for the Tommies, they would find Vidito at the top of the key for a contested three to tie the game back up at 26. The Tommies would continue to utilize the three-point shot to their advantage, as they would find Kerr wide open to give them a three-point lead. The Tommies would take the 29-26 into the half-time break. 

As the action picked up in the second half, the Tommies would come out strong, as Jeffrey would knock down a three from the right corner. Steeves would provide a two-way impact as she jumped the passing lane and stole the pass and found her way to the basket to increase the Tommies' lead to six. Midway through the third quarter, scoring has been challenging for the Seawolves as the Tommies' consistent full-court pressure would lead to heavily contested shots. The Seawolves would use a timeout in hope to recollect and look to shift the momentum back to them. Alward would look to be that key player for the Seawolves when she battled for an offensive rebound, in which she collected and calmly laid it up to cut the Tommies' lead to five. Alward's strong pressure on the glass would lead to an easy basket as she would outlet it to a teammate who then found Sprague open for a turnaround lay-up for the Seawolves. The momentum quickly shifted to the Seawolves with under four minutes to play. First, Green would predict a driving lane, and set up to draw an offensive foul and then Alward swatted away a Tommies' lay-up. Baker would crash the offensive glass and followed her teammate's missed field goal to easily put back a second chance lay-up to narrow the Tommies' lead to 1 as they trailed 39-38. Late in the quarter, with points hard to come by, the Tommies would call on Connors to give him a basket, when she crashed the glass and scored a second chance lay-up of her own. In the final moments of the third quarter, Laura Prekaj set up her defender for a quick crossover that opened up the space for her to rise up and hit the bank shot mid-range jumper to narrow the gap to 1 as the Seawolves trailed 41-40 at the third quarter break. 

With a berth in the championship match on the line, what more could you ask for with both teams battled on every possession in a tightly contested matchup where both fan bases were supporting the players! In a game where each possession matters, it would be the Seawolves who struck first when Llorena Prekaj would drive the lane with seconds left in the shot clock; she would find Green on the opposite block where she would finish the lay-up. Llorena Prekaj would jump the passing lane and steal the ball from the Tommies and then she would find Baker for the transition lay-up. On the following play, the Seawolves would find Alward in transition to put them up 47-44 with 6:21 remaining. Steeves would respond for the Tommies, jumping into the passing lane and picking off the pass. She would drive the lane and find Vidito for the transition lay-up midway through the quarter as they trailed 47-46. A few possessions later, off of a loose ball, the Tommies would find Steeves wide open for an uncontested three to put them up 49-47. With less than three minutes to play, the Tommies would continue to apply pressure to the Seawolves, forcing them into turnovers in an attempt to extend their lead. Steeves would be that X-factor for the Tommies as she would jump into the passing lane again, finding Vidito again for a clutch lay-up putting them up nine with 2 minutes remaining. Connors would put the game out of reach with little over a minute left, as she would receive the entry pass with seconds remaining in the shot clock, scoring the uncontested lay-up to put them up by 11. The Tommies would clinch their berth in the ACAA Championship after a hard-fought battle with the Seawolves, as they claimed a 61-48 victory. 

Cleve's Source for Sports Player of the Game

Laura Prekaj (UNBSJ Seawolves) 

Charlee Connors (St. Thomas Tommies)

The St. Thomas Tommies advance to tomorrow's championship matchup as they face the winner of the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics/Mount Allison Mounties matchup Saturday afternoon. Game time is at 1:00 p.m.