Box Score
MONTREAL -- Mariam Sylla scored another one of her patented "double-doubles" as top-ranked McGill knocked off No.8 Laval 69-60 to open the RSEQ women's basketball season and defence of their four straight conference titles, at Love Competition Hall, Friday.
 
The win was McGill's 18 straight conquest over their provincial rivals, since a 74-68 setback in Montreal on Nov. 12.
 
McGill led 21-17 after the opening quarter until Laval closed the gap and took a 34-33 lead into halftime. The third stanza remained a back-and-forth affair with the teams tied 52-52 heading into the final frame. The Martlets outscored Laval 17-8 in the last stanza to seal the victory.
 
"Our post presence was the difference in the fourth," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne, who has guided his troops to five consecutive first-place finishes in the RSEQ conference. "We took advantage of where our strength was, got the ball into the low block and played good inside-out basketball."
 
Sylla, a 6-foot-1 senior forward from Guinea, was almost a pre-game scratch but scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
 
"She came into the game with a bad ankle," noted Thorne.  "We weren't even sure if she was going to play. She toughed it out though and gave us an All-Canadian type performance."
 
The reigning Quebec league player of the year and CIS All-Canadian saw 28 minutes of court-time, shooting 6-for-10 from the field and 8-for-11 from the foul-line. She was also credited with three assists and one steal.

Teammate and fellow big Alex Kiss-Rusk was just as imposing. The third-year psychology major was 5-for-6 from the floor to finish with 10 points but  also controlled the paint with seven blocked shots. She added four rebounds and a pair of  assists.
 
Dianna Ros, a fifth-year point-guard, was the final Martlet to reach double digits with 10 points, while chipping in five rebounds, four assists and one block.
 
McGill was strong in most facets of the game, earning a 33-32 edge in rebounding, a 10-3 advantage in steals and a whopping 25-4 difference in points off the bench.
 
The home side shot 44.9 per cent from the floor (22/49), 23.5 from three-point range (4/17) and dropped 21 of 29, compared to Laval, which shot 35.6, 40.0 and 55.6, respectively.
 
Gabrielle Girard led the Rouge et Or with a double-double in a losing cause. She tallied a game-high 29 points and was lights-out from beyond the arc, posting an almost unstoppable 6-for-9 performance. The fourth-year guard also collected 13 rebounds.
 
Laval (0-1) will host Concordia (0-0) next week in their home opener on Nov. 13. The Martlets (1-0) will hit the road and head to Lennoxville to battle the Bishop's Gaiters (0-0) on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.