Box Score
LENNOXVILLE, Que. – Veteran Helene Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que., scored a season-high 19 points and rookie Mariam Sylla, a native of Guinea, registered a “double-double” as the visiting McGill women's basketball team defeated winless Bishop's 73-56 at the Mitchell gymnasium, Wednesday.

GAME STATS: http://www.sportetudiant-stats.com/universitaire/basketball-f/stats/1213/f36.htm
 
The victory improved the Martlets record to 8-2 and moved them into sole possession of first-place in the RSEQ conference, two points ahead of Concordia (7-3) and UQAM (7-4). The cellar-dwelling Gaiters dropped to 0-11.
 
McGill, which went on a 13-0 run to start the game, led 24-10 after the opening quarter but Bishop's opened the second stanza by draining a pair of three-pointers which cut the Martlets lead to one. Bishop's won the quarter 19-15 but McGill went into intermission with a 39-29 lead. The Martlets took a commanding 57-43 lead after three quarters.
 
“The girls played well, started out with high intensity,” said Ryan Thorne, head coach of the Martlets. “We talked a lot about not taking this team lightly and jumped out into a pretty good lead.”
 
It was a break-out game for Bibeau, a six-foot centre who started instead of injured senior Anneth Him-Lazarenko (who missed her second consecutive outing). Bibeau made seven of 12 shots from the field, including a 5-for-9 performance from three-point range. The 24-year-old elementary education senior also pulled down six rebounds in addition to four steals.
 
Sylla, a 6-foot-1 centre, tallied 15 points and pulled down as many rebounds to record her sixth double-double in 10 league games this season. The 20-year-old pharmacology freshman was fouled more than twice as much as any other player and went 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.
 
“One of our strong points tonight was Bibeau and Sylla, who were a good tandem together, which allowed us to go inside out,” said Thorne, a former Gaiters star guard who led them to a national championship during his playing days. “Basically, we surrounded them with four good shooters and if Bishop's decided to double-team Sylla, that left a good kick-out to Bibeau, or out to one of our guards who shoot well from the three-point line.”
 
McGill, which had a mammoth 47-32 edge in rebounding, continued to shoot well, connecting on 41 per cent from the field (25/61), with a stellar 42.1 from beyond the arc (8/19) and a highly efficient 83.3 from the line (15/18). Bishop's replied on 30.0, 28.1 and 73.3, respectively.
 
Montrealer Dianna Ros also reached double figures with 10 points, while 6-foot-2 centre Valerie L'Ecuyer of Mirabel, Que., came off the bench to contribute eight points and three rebounds in 17 minutes of court time.
 
“Valerie also stepped in and we were able to do similar things with her, although not to the same extent as our top two scorers tonight,” added Thorne. “But she did a great job on rebounding and defending on the perimeter.”
 
Teammates Marie-Pier Bastrash of Trois-Rivières, Francoise Charest of Quebec City and Gabriela Hebert of Chicoutimi added seven points apiece.
 
Leading the way for the Gaiters was Gabrielle Chamberland and Catherine Rondeau, both natives of Sherbrooke, who scored 20 and 13 points, respectively.
 
The Gaiters will travel to Montreal this weekend to take on UQAM on Saturday, Feb. 2.

The Martlets will host Concordia on Friday at 6 p.m. in a crucial match-up for first place that is slated to be webcast live from Love Competition Hall. Concordia won the first meeting of the season 72-63 at home but the Martlets took the next two 75-44 at home and 60-46 at the Loyola campus. The McGill women will be dressed in pink as the game will serve as the annual “Shoot for the Cure” fundraiser for breast cancer, followed by the annual “Pack The House” contest in the men's match-up at 8 p.m.
 

Newspaper Box Score
McGill Martlets 73 vs Bishop's Gaiters 56
01/30/12 18:00 at Mitchell Gym

MCGILL (7-2)
Helene Bibeau 7-12 0-0 19; Mariam Sylla 4-12 7-10 15; Dianna Ros 3-9 4-4 10;
Valerie L'Ecuyer 4-5 0-0 8; Francoise Charest 2-6 2-2 7; Gabriela Hebert 2-5
2-2 7; Marie-Pier Bastrash 3-11 0-0 7; Abena Addo 0-0 0-0 0; Arianne Duchesne 0-1 0-0 0; Emilijia Davidovic 0-0 0-0 0; Maude Dagenais 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 25-61 15-18 73.

BISHOP'S GAITERS (0-10)
Gabr. Chamberland 7-23 3-4 20; Catherine Rondeau 5-13 0-0 13; Eloisa Katz
2-4 4-4 9; Marie-Michele Paquin 2-7 1-3 6; Sabrina Asselin 1-1 0-0 3; Bailey
Trafford 1-1 0-0 2; Haley Lewis 0-2 2-2 2; Riley-Mic. Shkimba 0-6 1-2 1;
Marie-Douce Bergeron 0-0 0-0 0; Danielle Lumley 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-60
11-15 56.

MCGILL........................   24   15   18   16  -   73
Bishop's Gaiters..............   10   19   14   13  -   56

3-point goals--
MCGILL 8-19 (Helene Bibeau 5-9; Marie-Pier Bastrash 1-3;
Gabriela Hebert 1-4; Francoise Charest 1-3), 

Bishop's Gaiters 9-32 (Gabr.
Chamberland 3-10; Catherine Rondeau 3-10; Sabrina Asselin 1-1; Marie-Michele
Paquin 1-5; Eloisa Katz 1-1; Riley-Mic. Shkimba 0-5). 

Fouled out--MCGILL-None,Bishop's Gaiters-Bailey Trafford. 

Rebounds--MCGILL 47 (Mariam Sylla 15),
Bishop's Gaiters 32 (Gabr. Chamberland 7). 

Assists--MCGI 17 (Dianna Ros 6),
Bishop's Gaiters 14 (Gabr. Chamberland 3; Catherine Rondeau 3). 

Total fouls--MCGILL 14, Bishop's Gaiters 16. 
Technical fouls--MCGILL-None, Bishop's Gaiters-None. 
ATT-287

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
514-398-7012