Box Score
MONTREAL -- Anneth Him-Lazarenko, a fifth-year senior from Panama City registered a “double-double” as the McGill women's basketball team exploded in the final quarter to unseat UQAM off their perch atop the conference standings and hand the Citadins a 71-55 setback at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.
 
GAME STATS: http://www.sportetudiant-stats.com/universitaire/basketball-f/stats/1213/f21.htm

The result left McGill at 6-2 and tied atop the RSEQ conference standings with Concordia (6-2) and UQAM (6-3) in what looks to be a heated stretch run over the next month before playoffs begin on Feb. 27.

In a spirited, see-saw battle that featured 15 lead changes, the Citadins held an 18-17 advantage after the opening quarter but McGill bounced back to take a precarious 35-33 lead at halftime. The teams were knotted at 51-51 heading into the final stanza, where the McGill women simply manhandled UQAM by a lopsided 20-4 margin.
 
Him-Lazarenko, a 5-foot-10 forward who ranks fourth among league scoring leaders with a 14.0 average, posted game-highs with 19 points and 14 rebounds. She shot 8-for-13 from the floor and went 3-for-6 from the foul-line.
 
“It took her a while to come into form because she was banged up with injuries the last few years and wasn't planning on coming back this season,” said Ryan Thorne, in his 10^th campaign as head coach of the Martlets. “But she had a change of heart late in the fall and decided to come back. We're doing some things that help her game.  She knows what she does well and we just spot guards up around her who can knock down shots. If she doesn't have a shot (at the basket), she just kicks it out to the guards who will have open shots.”
 
Sophomore point-guard Dianna Ros of Montreal had five assists to go with a season-high 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including a pair of treys.
 
“She is one of the most talented guards in the conference and maybe even in the country,” said Thorne. “Sometimes when her confidence is down, she doesn't want to take too much upon her shoulders and works to distribute the ball more. But when she looks to be aggressive and tries to score more, it's hard to defend because it opens up a lot of other people. We've got two really solid “bigs” (i.e. big centres) and when Dianna misses shots, it's because defenders have had to come over and pressure her. That frees up our “bigs” for offensive rebounding.”
 
Another Martlet to reach double figures in scoring was freshman Mariam Sylla, a 6-foot-1 centre from Guinea, who collected 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Sylla is second among league rebounding leaders with a 9.1 average.
 
Valerie Gauvin of Longueuil, Que., paced the UQAM attack with 17 points, while teammates Emie Savard of Varennes, Que., and Camille Michaud of Amqui, Que., added 12 and 11, respectively.
 
McGill shot 41.9 per cent from the floor (26/62), 41.7 from the arc (5/12) and 70.0 from the line (14/20), compared to the Citadins, who connected on 38.5 and 50.0, respectively, making all 10 free-throws. The Martletshad a huge 33-19 advantage in rebounds.
 
McGill now heads on the road for two contests, playing at Concordia on Jan. 24 and Bishop's on Jan. 30.
 
MARTLET MURMURS:  McGill is 22-19 lifetime against the Citadins… Freshman Marie-Pier Bastrash leads the Quebec conference in field-goal shooting with a 53.8 success rate and is also second in three-point shooting (61.1)… Point-guard Francoise Charest is ranked second among league leaders in minutes played (34.0), second in 3-pointers made (1.9 per game) and second in steals (2.3 per game).

Newspaper Box Score

(01/19/13 18h00 at Love Competition Hall)

MARTLETS 71, CITADINS 55

CITADINS
Valerie Gauvin 5-11 4-4 17; Emie Simard 5-11 2-2 12; Camille Michaud 5-9 0-0
11; Questeline Celestin 2-7 2-2 6; Anne-Marie Lavoie 2-4 0-0 5; Janice
Quintos 0-2 2-2 2; Elina Conduche 1-2 0-0 2; Juliette Delaune 0-1 0-0 0;
Lorna Desrameaux-S. 0-1 0-0 0; Catherine Bougie 0-4 0-0 0; Marie-Claude
Lavertu 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 10-10 55.

MARTLETS
A Him-Lazarenko 8-13 3-6 19; Dianna Ros 8-11 0-0 18; Mariam Sylla 3-9 6-8
12; Gabriela Hebert 3-6 1-2 8; Francoise Charest 1-7 2-2 5; Helene Bibeau
2-9 0-0 5; Arianne Duchesne 1-5 2-2 4; Monica Slyka 0-0 0-0 0; Valerie L'Ecuyer 0-2 0-0 0; Marie-Pier Bastrash 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 14-20 71.

Citadins......................   18   15   18    4  -   55
Martlets......................   17   18   16   20  -   71

3-point goals--Citadins 5-10 (Valerie Gauvin 3-5; Anne-Marie Lavoie 1-1;
Camille Michaud 1-2; Questeline Celestin 0-1; Emie Simard 0-1), Martlets
5-12 (Dianna Ros 2-3; Francoise Charest 1-1; Gabriela Hebert 1-3; Helene Bibeau 1-5). Fouled out--Citadins-None, Martlets-None. Rebounds--Citadins 19
(Emie Simard 4), Martlets 33 (A Him-Lazarenko 14). Assists--Citadins 6
(Catherine Bougie 2), Martlets 14 (Dianna Ros 5). Total fouls--Citadins 19,
Martlets 11. Technical fouls--Citadins-None, Martlets-None.