MONTREAL -- Sarah-Jane Marois scored 14 points as fourth-ranked Laval defeated No.5 McGill 63-46 to officially open the 95th season of women's basketball season on campus at Love Competition Hall on Thursday.

The loss snapped McGill's five-year, 23-game winning streak over their provincial rivals, dating back to a 74-68 decision on Nov. 12, 2011. It also halted a 12-game win streak at home against the Rouge et Or.

Laval led 16-15 after one, 34-27 at the half, and was bolstered by a dominant 20-5 third quarter.

 "I think they're in better shape and they were hungry," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne. "We were doing all the things that were in our game plan -- we stuck to it, we were working hard. Then they started to attack and we started to get away from our game plan, and I think that was the big difference."

Marois shot 4-for-12 from the field, including one three-pointer, and was 5-for-6 on free-throws. She pulled down three rebounds, all in the defensive zone, and also had three assists.

"We need to understand that it's not going to be 'Hey, we're going to walk away with it'," added Thorne, whose squad cruised to a 15-1 record last year and amassed an 11-2 mark in preseason play. "Teams are coming after us and we have to understand that. We've got to go at teams. We can't just accept their attack and let that be that. We have to go at teams and make ourselves a positive threat, and we didn't do that. I felt we were very passive. If they're attacking us aggressively, we can't be passive defensively."

The Martlets were led by Alex Kiss-Rusk, a psychology senior from Beaconsfield, Que., who tallied 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds. She shot 6-for-13 from the floor, sank one of two free-throws, while adding two assists, three blocks and three steals.

Teammate Frederique Potvin, a native of Ste. Julie, Que., shot 3-for-11, including a pair of treys, and netted one of two attempts from the charity stripe. The first-year NCAA transfer from Pittsburgh also had one block, a pair of rebounds, two steals and three assists. Marie-Love Michel, a junior from Montreal, followed with eight points and as many rebounds, including six in the defensive end. She went 4-for-8 from the floor and also registered one assist.

"Our offensive movement (needs to improve)," noted Thorne, whose team has one week to figure things out before their next match. "I think we were very stagnant with the ball… If we just stand and try to pass we're not going to be successful, we've got to move the ball and attack close-outs."

The Rouge et Or had a 33-29 rebounding margin, a massive 20-12 advantage in turnovers and stole eight balls compared to five by McGill. The Martlets made the only four blocks of the contest.

McGill shot 34 per cent from the field (18/53) and 55.6 per cent (5/9) from the three-point range, with all five treys coming in the first half. They went 5-for-8 from the stripe. Laval shot 36.5 per cent (23/63) from the field, including 9-for-18 from downtown, and went 8-for-13 on free-throws (61.5 per cent).

The Rouge et Or (1-0) return to the court against Concordia (1-0) on Sunday (Nov. 13). The Martlets (0-1) visit UQAM (0-0) on Thursday, Nov. 17.