Tommies Move to 5-1 With 59-57 Win Over Hurricanes

Fredericton, NB- The St. Thomas University Tommies outlasted the Holland College Hurricanes 59-57 on Sunday evening at the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium.  

The Tommies suffered their first loss of the season last weekend at the hands of the Hurricanes, a 65-62 overtime defeat. Despite that, Tommies head coach Fred Connors didn't see this as a revenge game for his team.  

"In the standings it looks good and all of that, but we talked about it before the game that this game wasn't about revenge, because when you make it about revenge you make it about the other team. We felt we didn't play very well on the road and we wanted to come back home and play really well." 

Vanessa Soffee led the Tommies with 13 points to go along with 4 steals, 6 assists and 9 rebounds, while Ashley Plaggenhoef netted 14 for the Hurricanes. Aki Kobayashi helped the Hurricanes cause with 11 points, 5 steals, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Bridget Frazee chipped in for the Tommies with 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds.

It was another tightly contested affair between these two rivals, with the score at half time being 29-28 for the Tommies, and 45-45 heading into the final quarter. Connors knows his team needs to maintain their focus to close out games in the future.

"Early in the season we have struggled in the third quarters, so the girls have really made it a focal point to come out strong and with good energy. What seems to happen though is that when we get that lead, we put so much energy into getting the lead that we forget that we need to keep that energy where it is. It's more emotional than it is physical." 

With the win the Tommies move to 5-1 on the season, tying them with the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics for the ACAA lead, and the Hurricanes fall to 3-2.