Box Score
LENNOXVILLE, Que. -- Gabriela Hebert posted game-highs with 16 points and seven rebounds as the No.8-ranked McGill women's basketball team coasted to an easy 71-42 road win over Bishop's at the Mitchell gym, Saturday.
 
The victory, McGill's 10th in a row over the Gaiters, improved their division-leading record to 8-2 atop the RSEQ conference. The winless Gaiters tumbled to 0-10.
 
"We were trying to push the pace a bit," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne, whose offence, was rolling on all cylinders and tallied 17 points over their average-per game.  "We wanted to get a lot of scoring chances out of transition and I think we did that."
 
McGill jumped out to a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, then flexed their muscles on defence surrendering only three points in the second quarter to take a 28-10 advantage into halftime.  Following the break, McGill got the offence firing again putting up 24 in the quarter and widened the gap to 52-22 heading into the final stanza.
 
Hebert, a 5-foot-8 forward from Chicoutimi, Que., was 5-for-15 from the floor -- including a 3-for-10 performance from downtown. The industrial relations junior went 3-for-3 at the foul line and was credited with a game-high three assists. "We put (Herbert) in a lot of ball-screen situations and she read them well either for her own shots or for shots in the post, "added Thorne. "(She adds) a lot of good decision-making."
 
Catherine Rondeau was the only Gaiters player in double-digit scoring with 11 points, while Marie-Michele Paquin pitched in nine points with a solid 4-of-6 shooting performance.

The McGill bench had another stellar soiree, outscoring the Bishop's subs 42-14. Jennifer Silver, a 5-foot-11 freshman forward from Montreal, Que., was impressive for a second straight game, leading all bench players with 13 points, off a 5-for-6 shooting effort from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from the line.

Teammate Roya Assadi, a senior guard from Vancouver, was right behind her with 11 to go along with four rebounds, three steals assists and a pair of assists. Marie-Pier Bastrash and Tiye Traore chipped in eight and six points, respectively, to round out some solid contributions from the non-starters.
 
McGill, which has been having serious injury problems at the point-guard position, committed 21 turnovers but lowered their total in this troublesome department for the third straight game.

Starting senior Francoise Charest, missed her fourth straight contest with a lower-body injury, while Dianna Ros, a starting junior who returned to action against the Gaiters two days ago, re-aggravated her leg injury after only 14 minutes of action. Newcomer Carolann Cloutier, an NCAA transfer from UMass, has been filling in for the dynamic duo. She earned her third straight start but left after only 11th minutes of playing time when accidently poked in the eye and suffered a lacerated eyelid.
 
"We want to be healthy for the playoffs," noted Thorne, who revealed that his injured players could've played. "No teams are really jockeying with us (in the standings) as there is no more home-court advantage in the playoffs. We will not be afraid to rest the girls in order to have them healthy for when it matters."

The RSEQ conference has adopted a new playoff format this year. Instead of the top two teams earning home-court advantage in the playoffs, Laval won a bid to host an RSEQ "Final Four" tournament, in both the men's and women's divisions,
 
Thorne, whose troops led by as many as 33 points, also sat super sophomore Mariam Sylla, who was limited to just five points (along with six rebounds and six steals) in a season-low 12 minutes of court-time. The native of Guinea, who won CIS rookie-of-the-year honours in her freshman season, is on pace to capture here second straight conference scoring title.

McGill shot 44.2 per cent from the field (23/52), went 4-for-19 from three-point range and sank an impressive 21 of 23 from the line (91.3%). Bishop's shot 31.4 per cent from the floor (16/51) and 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.

The Martlets tight defence also forced Bishop's into 27 turnovers, 18 of them on steals.

The Martlets (8-2) will now switch their focus to their cross-town rivalry with UQAM and will meet the second-place Citadins (7-2) in McGill's annual "Pack the House" promotion on Thursday (Feb. 6). Tip-off is at 6.p.m and the game is also scheduled to be streamed online at SSN Canada.

Bishop's (0-10), still in search of their elusive first win, will host second-place Concordia (7-3) on Feb. 7.  
 
SOURCE:
 
Ryne Bondy and Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012