SYDNEY, NS - With their backs to the wall, the #2 seed Alberta Pandas outscored the Acadia Axewomen 22-8 in the fourth quarter, including an improbable 17-0 run to close the game, storming back for a 61-57 win in the U SPORTS Quarter-Final on Thursday afternoon. 

Fourth-year guard Jenna Harpe scored a career-high 29 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, as Alberta erased a 13-point deficit with seven minutes remaining. 

"To be honest, we struggled for the first three quarters. But I'm just proud of how relentless we were," said Harpe, who made 10 shots and six free throws in the win. "We did not give up. Even being down 13, we knew we had a comeback in us."

The Pandas will now move on and battle the Queen's Gaels in the national semifinal on Saturday afternoon. It marks the first time the Pandas have advanced to the U SPORTS semifinal since 2009. 

"Jenna had one of the best games of her life today. She refused to lose. We needed somebody to step up, and it was her," said head coach Scott Edwards. "There is no quit in this team. There was some doubt in the fourth quarter, but never quit. And once we made a couple shots and had some stops on defence in the fourth, that belief started to come back." 

2023 U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year Claire Signatovich added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Pandas, adding a pair of key blocks in the second half. Morgan Harris added eight points and three assists. 

Acadia had four players finish with 10+ points, with Elizabeth Iseyemi leading the Axewomen with 14. Acadia shot 3/24 (12.5%) from beyond the arc in the loss, including an 0/6 mark in the fourth. 

Both teams played strong defensive basketball in the first half, with Acadia leading 27-25. The seventh-seeded Axewomen started to find their groove in the third, outscoring Alberta 22-14. 

Exchaning shots early in the fourth, a Sophie Atkinson jumper gave Acadia a 13-point lead, causing Edwards and the Pandas to change up their defence. Acadia would go the remaining 7:17 without scoring a point. 

"Our defence was the big reason we came back," continued Harpe. "We switched it up to a zone, and started getting the steals and stops we needed." 

Seven of Signatovich's 11 rebounds came in the fourth quarter, with Harris clinching the victory with a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining. 

Alberta and Queen's will meet on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. AT in the first national semifinal. It will be the Pandas and Gaels first meeting at nationals since 2014, a 67-55 Alberta win. Alberta also beat Queen's 70-62 in the 2001 national semifinal in Edmonton.