Box Score
MONTREAL -- Kaylah Barrett of Brampton, Ont., scored a game-high 18 points as the eighth-ranked Concordia Stingers upset visiting McGill, ranked No.6 in the nation, 63-53 in women's basketball at the Concordia gym, Thursday.

Marie-Pier Bastrash of Trois-Rivieres, Que., scored 11 for the injury-riddled Martlets, who suffered their first loss in regular season play and dropped to 6-1. It was a critical win for the Stingers, who improved to 6-3 and moved into a three-way tie atop the RSEQ standings with McGill (6-1) and UQAM (6-2).

Concordia took advantage of two missing veteran starters for McGill -- ailing point-guards Dianna Ros and Francoise Charest, both out with lower-body injuries -- to pressure the back-end and double-team Martlets super sophomore Mariam Sylla, who leads the RSEQ conference in both scoring and rebounding.

Sylla was kept off the scoresheet in the first half, although she rallied in the second half and finished with a "double-double", posting 10 points and a  dozen rebounds.

"We lost sight of our game plan when we fell behind in the first half," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne, whose troops committed an astounding 30 turnovers -- which led directly to 32 points -- compared to only 13 ball-handling errors by Concordia. "We were without our veterans at point-guard, got off to a bad start and had problems with our ball-handing responsibilities. Turnovers were very costly and we were also hurt at the free-throw line."

McGill went to the foul-line only a dozen times, collecting 11 points. The Stingers, by contrast, made 25 trips to the charity stripe and came away with 21 freebies.

"Sylla was a reluctant scorer today," Thorne added. "They double and triple-teamed her and she often found herself in a bad position to shoot, so she passed the ball off. In the second half, we had nothing to lose, so she went to the basket more aggressively and it started to turn around but by then, we ran out of time."

Richelle Gregoire, Tina Mpondani and Marilyse Roy-Viau added 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Concordia, who led 16-13 after the opening quarter and grabbed a stunning 42-27 halftime lead. The guns for both teams fell silent in the third quarter, which Concordia won 6-5. The Stingers extended that to a 20-point spread early in the final stanza before McGill awoke in the final seven minutes and went on a 19-9 run to close out the contest.

McGill's Gabriela Hebert contributed 10 points and pulled down six boards. Teammates Helene Bibeau and freshman Jennifer Silver each added a half-dozen points.

The Martlets, who had a 38-29 advantage in rebounds, shot 39.6 per cent from the floor (19/48) and went 4-for-16 from three-point range. Concordia replied with a 39.2 success rate from the field (19/59) and also went 4-for-16 from the arc.

McGill will get a chance to avenge the loss when they host Concordia at Love Competition Hall on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the opener of a women's and men's twin-bill The event will also be McGill's annual "Shoot for the Cure" fundraiser for breast cancer.


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Spots Info Office
514-398-7012