Box Score
MONTREAL -- Four players reached double digits in scoring as McGill defeated the University of Akron Zips 67-55 in a women's basketball preseason matchup at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.

It marked the Martlets' second win in as many games against an NCAA Div. 1 squad, including a season-opening 80-56 victory over Seton Hall on Aug. 9. The McGill women have now won three of their last four confrontations versus NCAA teams, including last season's 75-49 win over Maryville and 48-44 loss to Ohio.

"I was pleased with the victory and certain parts of the way we played," said head coach Ryan Thorne, who improved his overall record to 206-174 in 380 games behind the McGill bench. "But we need to get better in other parts of our game. We were a bit sloppy, need to improve communication, awareness and some other little details. We got stuck in a few situations where Akron was double-teaming somebody and our players (on the floor) were unaware.  So we need to work on that."

The Zips, which finished second in the Mid-American Conference's East Division last season with an 11-7 record, concluded their four-game, nine-day journey to Canada with a 1-3 record. They opened with a 78-68 win over UQAM, followed by losses to Laval (79-73), Carleton (66-58) and the Martlets.

McGill led 19-10 after the opening quarter, 28-16 at halftime and 46-36 after three, then outscored Akron 21-19 in a wide-open final stanza.

Sophomore Gladys Hakizimana and newcomer Frederique Potvin, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, paced the Martlets with 14 points apiece, while fellow starters Marie-Love Michel and Jennifer Silver added 12 and 10, respectively. Alex Kiss-Rusk tallied nine, which left the Martlets one point shy of having all five starters in double figures.

Senior Hannah Plybon of Orrville, Ohio, and Alli Ball, a junior from Saint Louis, Missouri, led the Zips with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Akron had a 31-26 edge in rebounds, an 8-7 margin in steals and an 18-9 advantage in turnovers with McGill holding a 9-3 difference in blocked shots. The Martlets shot 30.8 per cent from the field (20/65), dropped nine of 24 three-pointers and connected on 81.8 of their free-throws (18 of 22). The Zips shot a paltry 26.2 from the floor, hit six of 15 treys and sank 15 of 21 attempts from the line.

McGill (2-0) now gets an extended break before resuming their non-conference schedule with a six-game road-trip, including three in southern Ontario and three more in the Maritimes. They are slated to play at Western (Sept. 30), Guelph (Oct. 1) and Ryerson (Oct. 2) before heading east to play at the Cape Breton invitational tournament, Oct. 14-16, in Sydney, N.S.

MARTLET MURMURS: Sophomore Stephanie Guinois-Cote played the game with a full-facial shield after suffering a broken nose several times during her CEGEP career... Referee Eric Brouillard worked was was believed to be his last collegiate game after 30 years as an official. He said that he has two weeks to advise the Quebec basketball Federation if he was hanging up his sneakers and Fox 40 pea-less whistle.

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)