ATHENS, Greece – Mariam Sylla, a pharmacology senior from Guinea, scored a team-high 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds in a losing cause as the McGill Martlets fell 61-51 to Olympico, an elite women's professional basketball team based in Athens, Saturday.
 
"This was exactly the experience we were looking for," said Ryan Thorne, head coach of  the Martlets. "They have been the No.1 team in Greece Div. 1 for the past two seasons and they showed us why. The biggest difference between them and us was their ability to execute and play hard to the end of a possession at both ends."
 
The Olympico club, recently rebranded from their previous moniker AE Ellinikou, finished atop Greece's A1 league with a 17-1 record last spring. They jumped into a quick 11-2 advantage over McGill and were ahead 18-11 after the opening quarter.
 
After the initial shock of starting slow and trailing early on by nine points, Gabriela Hebert sparked the Martlets with a big three-point shot, narrowing the gap to within six. From that point on, McGill started to move the ball a lot better, finding open opportunities inside the paint and beyond the arc.
 
The Greeks led 37-28 at the half but with three minutes to play in the third quarter, McGill rallied to even the score at 45-45. Two quick three-point plays and a steal by the host squad proved to be the turning point as Olympico led 60-49 after three quarters, then out-pointed McGill 5-2 in a low-scoring defensive struggle in the final stanza.
 
"Transition baskets were probably the biggest difference, as they accounted for 20 points of their offence," added Thorne. "When we made mistakes, they made us pay with layups at the other end. I must say that I was much happier with our defensive effort, as we managed to do a better job handling ball screens. However, (too much) standing and watching, both on offence and defence, did us in today. It was a great learning opportunity."
 
The Martlets dropped their first game of the week-long overseas tour, losing 62-61 to Kronos AD of the A2 league on Sept.1. Two days later, a game against Terpsithea of the top league, was cancelled due to a players strike.
 
Long-time McGill assistant coach Helen Magdalinos scrambled to make some calls and managed to add an extra game as McGill will be playing AO Paleo Faliro -- which finished ninth of 12 teams with an 8-14 record in the A2 South Division -- on Sunday just before catching an overnight flight back to Montreal. They are scheduled to land at Trudeau airport in Dorval on Monday afternoon.
 
SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
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www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
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