Box Score
MONTREAL -- Senior Alex Kiss-Rusk of Beaconsfield, Que., tallied 16 points and Marie-Love Michel, a junior from Montreal added 15 as the McGill University women's basketball team opened up their preseason with a stunning 80-56 upset over Seton Hall before a crowd of 396 at Love Competition Hall, Tuesday.

It was the 95th season opener for the defending RSEQ conference champion Martlets and marked their first conquest over an NCAA opponent since they toppled the Maryville Saints (a Div. 2 team) 75-49 on Aug. 12, 2015. McGill's last win over a Div. 1 squad was a 68-46 decision over Manhattan College, Aug. 21, 2014. The result improved McGill's record to 3-6 in their last nine confrontations against NCAA teams, dating back to 2012.

The Pirates, a prominent Div. 1 program from South Orange, N.J., finished second in the 10-team Big East Conference last season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where they suffered a 97-76 setback to Duquesne in the opening round. McGill won their fifth straight RSEQ league title and qualified for the CIS Final Eight championship, finishing fourth.

McGill, which won all four quarters, took a lopsided 23-3 advantage after the opening quarter and led 34-21 at the half. Both teams poured on the offence in the third stanza, where the Martlets outlasted the visitors 29-24 to hold a 63-45 margin after three.

"I thought that our girls were nervous to start but were excited by that early lead, which calmed them down," said Ryan Thorne, in his 14th season as head coach at McGill. "There was a lot of energy, we ran the ball well. We only started training camp a few days ago, so they're just getting to know each other. So it's just a question of finding the right opportunities and we did that right off the start."

Michel and Kiss-Rusk were among five Martlets to reach double figures in scoring. Newcomer Frederique Potvin, a native of Ste. Julie, Que., who previously played at Vanier College and recently transfered to McGill after three seasons with the University of Pittsburgh, added 14 points. Sophomores Gladys Hakizimana and Fredericke Laflamme contributed 11 apiece. Rounding out the scoring was senior Jennifer Silver (8), along with sophomores Geraldine Cabillo-Abante (3) and Stephanie Guinois-Cote (2).

McGill held a 40-28 advantage under the glass, led by six rebounds apiece from Silver and Kiss-Rusk. Silver's return for a fourth campaign was both a surprise and a shot in the arm for McGill, which lost two-time all-Canadian forward Mariam Sylla and all-star point-guard Dianna Ros to graduation. The 5-foot-11 Silver was arguably McGill's best performer in the post-season last spring. She is entering her fourth year in medicine and had thought that the challenge might be too difficult to find a balance between her academic program and varsity basketball.

"We sat down for a meeting when I got back from ChiIe (a couple of weeks ago)," said Thorne, who helped guide Canada to a silver-medal finish at the 2016 FIBA Americas under-18 championship in mid-July. "Jen missed basketball and wanted to give it another shot. She may have to miss some practices but we are stronger with her in our lineup. We feel really comfortable putting her in a position that, if she feels overwhelmed at some point and needs to take a step back (from the team) she can and we'll go through what we need to do."

Sophomore Martha Kuderer of Eden Prairie, Minn., led the Pirates with 19 points in a losing cause and teammate Kaela Hilaire, a freshman from Floral Park, N.Y., chipped in a dozen more.

The Martlets shot 46.7 per cent from the floor (28/60), dropped nine of 20 from three-point range and went a stellar 15-for-16 from the free-throw line. The Pirates shot 30.6 from the field (19/62), went 2-for-20 from beyond the arc and 16-for-19 from the line.

Seton Hall (1-1), which opened their five-game Canadian tour with a 99-53 win over a junior college team made up of local CEGEP selects on Aug. 8, will travel to Quebec City to confront the Laval Rouge et Or on Aug. 10. The Pirates close our their cross-border excursion in the nation's capital with games at Ottawa (Aug. 12) and Carleton (Aug. 13). McGill (1-0) will host Akron, another NCAA Div. 1 squad, in their next rendezvous on Aug. 25.


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman