Box Score
QUEBEC CITY -- Mariam Sylla posted her third "double-double" of the season as the No.6-ranked McGill women's basketball team hung on for a 57-53 road victory over Laval at the PEPS Centre, Friday. The conquest, McGill's 11th in a row over Laval, extended the Martlets win streak over RSEQ opponents to 13, dating back to last season.

Sylla, a 6-foot-1, science sophomore from Guinea, registered game highs with a masterful 15-point, 19-rebound performance. She made four of eight shots from the floor and went 7-for-11 from the free-throw line.

The game featured an incredible total of 100 rebounds, including 54 by the Martlets.

It what was the second night of a back-to-back matchup between the two squads. McGill trailed 14-11 at the end of the first quarter.

"Back-to-backs are tough to play," said Martlets head coach Ryan Thorne of a sluggish start from his troops. "They came out hungry and we didn't."
 
The second quarter featured both teams scoring a dozen points apiece, giving the Rouge et Or a 26-23 lead at halftime. After the intermission, Dianna Ross sparked the comeback with a three-pointer early in the third quarter and the Martlets rallied to take a 42-41 lead going into the final stanza. Ross finished the soiree with five points, a pair of rebounds, three assists and a steal.

"We were able to score some clutch baskets down the stretch," added Throne.

One of those was a layup from Sylla, which proved to be the game-winning basket, with 32 seconds remaining to put McGill up 55-53. Laval was forced to foul in the dying seconds and McGill senior Francoise Charest ensured the victory with a pair of successful free-throws. Charest, a fifth-year floor-general playing in front of her hometown friends and family, finished with eight points and snagged seven rebounds.
 
Jennifer Silver, a freshman forward from Montreal, Que., was the second-leading scorer for the Martlets, posting 10 points, off a 3-of-7 shooting performance and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe. Helene Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que., dropped seven points to round out McGill's top snipers.
 
Jannie Jacques was the leading scorer for the Rouge et Or with a dozen points, closely followed by Genevieve Derome who tallied 10.

McGill shot 31.5 per cent from the field (17/54), went 4-for-16 from three-point range and sank 19 of 25 from the line (76%). Laval shot a slightly better 33.3 per cent from the floor (17/51), went 5-for-20 from beyond the arc and made 14 of 18 attempts from the line.

The Rouge et Or, who dropped to 1-5 on the season, will travel to Concordia (3-2) on Jan. 17 for their next matchup.  McGill (6-0) gets a one-week bye before heading across town to play the Stingers on Jan. 23.
 

SOURCE:

Ryne Bondy and Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012