Box Score
MONTREAL -- Veteran Helene Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que., came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and freshman Mariam Sylla of Guinea registered a "double-double" as McGill routed Laval 63-39 to clinch first place in the RSEQ women's basketball conference on "Seniors Night" at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.

GAME STATS: http://www.sportetudiant-stats.com/universitaire/basketball-f/stats/1213/f38.htm

It marked the third consecutive first-place finish for the Martlets who ended a 15-year drought atop the division standings in 2011.

The Martlets led 13-8 at the quarter and 28-18 at halftime before overwhelming Laval 24-9 in the third stanza.

"We executed down the stretch... our advantages are inside and we looked there (for shots)," said Ryan Thorne, in his 10th season as head coach at McGill. "We played very well inside-out, so if (Laval) took away something inside, we got some good contributions from someone like Bibeau, who knocked down a lot from three-point range."

Bibeau, a 6-foot-1 education senior, shot 6-for-14 from the floor, including a 3-for-7 performance from three-point range, and was perfect in four trips to the free-throw line. She was also credited with five rebounds, one blocked shot and a steal in 24 minutes of court-time.

Sylla, the 6-foot-1 centre who is among the favourites for CIS rookie-of-the- year honours, tallied 11 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in only 22 minutes of playing time before she was removed from the game due to the lopsided score. It was her eighth double-double in 15 conference games. The first-year pharmacology major shot 4-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line.

"The thing about Mariam is her (rebounding) energy on the glass and around the paint is just so great, that she gets her hands on basketballs or gets a little tip here and there that allows her to either get in good positioning to score or find her teammates," explained Thorne. "She works very hard in practice and you see the result of that on the court. This is a young lady was was suposed to be in the NCAA and based on what happened with the (Quebec students) strike, we were able to benefit from that because she was going to be ineligible (for the NCAA due to not completing her junior college degree on time)."

The Martlets, who lead the RSEQ conference with a 12-3 record, will close out their regular season schedule on Saturday (Feb. 23) at UQAM, which sits third at 8-7. McGill will then host fourth-place Laval (7-8) in a sudden-death semifinal on Feb. 27.

After the game, Anneth Him-Lazarenko, the team's only graduating senior, was recognized in a heartfelt ceremony at centre-court. It was the second such tribute to the native of Panama City who was also honoured last year when she was planning on graduating with a degree in elementary education and had no plans of returning for a fifth season. The 5-foot-10 forward had a last-minute change of heart after watching the Martlets play in a 71-54 preseason loss against the NCAA's Youngstown State on Aug. 17, 2012 and enrolled for another year at McGill.

"It's ridiculous the contributions she makes," said Thorne. "She's a winner, she was a champion at Vanier (College) and we were lucky to get her. She gave us a lot to help turn this program around. When she (arrived) we had just missed the playoffs and had our worst season ever. Since then, every time that she's been on the court we have been successful. She had two tough seasons with injuries and when she was out for those long stretches, we didn't fare as well. But since she has been back, we've been very successful."

MARTLET MURMURS: Also honoured with a bouquet of flowers was Laval head coach Linda Marquis, a former second-team all-Canadian guard with the Martlets who graduated from McGill in 1983 with a master's degree in education and recently won her 500th game over 28 years behind the Rouge et Or bench, where she has racked up a 501-282 record overall since 1985.


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012