OTTAWA – Five Martlets reached double digits in scoring as McGill overcame an 11-point deficit to beat Ottawa 83-82 in a CIS women's preseason basketball double overtime thriller at Montpetit Hall, Sunday.
 
The Gee-Gees, who led 36-29 at halftime and 53-42 with eight minutes remaining in the fourth, crumbled down the stretch giving the Martlets a chance to steal the game. Frederique Potvin hit a three-point shot with 58 seconds remaining and Alex Kiss-Rusk knocked down 1-of-2 free throws with five seconds left to give McGill a two-point lead. Ottawa had one last chance to win or tie and Kellie Forand hit a huge jumper at the buzzer to force overtime.
 
Both teams scored 10 points apiece in the first extra frame. McGill's Marika Guerin hit a key three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining to tie the game while Ottawa's Melina Wishart was unable to break the deadlock with a last second shot. In the second overtime period the Martlets led from start to finish and had key free-throw makes from Gladys Hakizamana and Ruth Tshikudi-Tshila to seal the victory despite another last second bucket from the Gee-Gees.

Hakizimana, a 5-foot-7 gaurd from Montreal, came off the bench to score a team-high 21 points. She shot an efficient 7-for-13 from the field which included a 3-for-5 mark from downtown. The physical education sophomore made all four of her free-throws and added five rebounds to go along with four steals and a pair of assists.
 
Not to be outdone was Potvin, from Ste. Julie, Que., who registered 18 points in a team-high 42 minutes of court-time. The 5-foot-10 transfer guard from Pittsburgh went 5-for-16 from the floor including a 3-for-10 performance from beyond the arc. She was perfect from the foul-line going 5-for-5.
 
Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 centre from Beaconsfield, Que., registered another one of her patented "double-doubles", scoring 14 points and pulling down a dozen rebounds. Marie-Love Michel and Jennifer Silver rounded out the double digit scorers for McGill recording 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The Gee-Gees had a three-headed monster, with Sarah Besselink, Kellie Forand and Isabelle Dion all reaching double figures tailing 26, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
McGill, which had a 34-28 margin in rebounds and 10-8 advantage in steals, shot 36.9 per cent from the field (24/65), 33.3 from the arc (7/21) and 84.8 from the line (28/33). Meanwhile, the Gee-Gees struggled at the foul-line shooting only 60.7% (17/28), which might have been the difference as they shot the ball extremely well from everywhere else going 43.3 from the floor (29/67) and 53.8 from downtown (7/13).
 
The Martlets have now completed their preseason schedule finishing with an 11-2 record. They will now turn their attention to conference rival Laval in a home matchup Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. in Love Competition Hall. This game will mark a re-match of last year's RSEQ conference final where McGill won 71-56.