(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE) The UPEI Panthers offence caught fire in the third quarter Saturday, lifting the host team to a 73-57 win over the UNB Varsity Reds.

The Panthers outscored the V-Reds 26-13 in third.

Kiera Rigby(Charlottetown, PE), Jenna Mae Ellsworth(Charlottetown, PE) and rookie Reese Baxendale(Sussex, NB) combined to score 52 points to lead their team.

"What we got was a great team effort," said Panthers head coach Greg Gould. "We kept pushing the basketball and got it to the hot hand."

UNB raced out to an early 8-0 lead.

The Panthers responded with a 7-0 run of their own.

The V-Reds led 29-27 at the half.

UPEI came out of the break and used a quick 8-0 run to jump ahead 35-29.

"Everyone was clicking," said Rigby, who flirted with a triple-double, scoring 20 points with eight boards and eight assists. "Everyone was into it, everyone was going to the boards, everyone was feeling good and once we hit a shot, it just kept flowing for us."

"We had a meeting this morning and we realized we just needed to be tougher and I thought we were tonight," said Gould.

The win is the first of the season for the Panthers.

UNB is now 3-1 on the season.

The Varsity Reds visit Saint Mary's for two games next weekend, while UPEI travels to Cape Breton.

RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Thomas Becker/for UPEI Athletics