CBU to now face SMU Huskies in semifinals
HALIFAX, NS (Feb. 28, 2025) – The Cape Breton University Capers women's basketball team is moving on.
The Capers received 14 points and 12 rebounds from star Kiyara Letlow on their way to a narrow 61-57 win over the STFX X-Women in their 2025 Bell AUS Women's Basketball Championship quarter-final matchup played Friday afternoon at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
"X plays really hard, they like to (double team) a lot so I just thought about let's share the ball and get other people open shots and opportunities and that's what we did," said Letlow in a post-game interview.
That's the good news.
The not-so-good news is the Capers will now have to deal with the two-time defending champion, and top-ranked, Saint Mary's Huskies in the semifinal Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Cape Breton, who missed last year's playoffs, is in search of their first AUS title since the 2016-17 season.
In Friday's game, the teams started out evenly. When STFX's Ali Oluyole made a layup to put X up 12-11 with 4:18 in the quarter, it's hard to think anyone would have imagined that would be their last lead of the game.
With a 19-16 lead after the opening quarter, the Capers turned up the heat in the second frame.
Hannah Smith, who averaged 8.2 points per game during the regular season, scored 11 in the opening half – six of which came in the second quarter on a pair of three-pointers to help her team to a substantial 36-26 lead at the half. Smith finished with 13 points.
On the other side of the court, STFX could not find a way to get Second Team All-Star Ekaterina Karshevskaya going. She has zero points at the half and managed just five in the game while shooting just 2-for-13 from the field.
After the break, the X-Women cut into the Capers lead but still trailed by six going into the final 10 minutes of play.
An Alicia Bowering deep three-point shot from the top of the arc put the Capers up by 11 less than two minutes into the final quarter, but STFX did not go away.
The Blue and White went on a 17-10 run the rest of the way to make things interesting – highlighted by Karchevskaya's three-point shot with 11 seconds left to cut Cape Breton's lead to 60-57.
That is as close as they would get, however, as a Smith free throw with four seconds left capped the scoring in the game to send the Capers to the semifinal and the X-Women home.
Capers guard Chermensa Van La Parra also added 14 points in the win. Shannon Neita led the X-Women with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Letlow was named the Subway Player of the Game.
Photo by Nick Pearce