MONTREAL -- Alex Kiss-Rusk of Beaconsfield, Que., scored 15 points as McGill dumped Bishop's 73-50 in RSEQ women's basketball at Love Competition Hall, during a Saturday matinee where the Martlets paid trinbute to their graduating seniors who were playing at home for the final time.

The victory improved the Martlets' record to 3-1 over the Gaiters. More importantly, McGill is now 8-7 with one game remaining in regular season play and took over sole possession of second place in a tight battle with UQAM (7-8) and Concordia (6-8) for preferential seeding in the Quebec conference's upcoming Final Four tournament at the Centre Pierre Charbonneau, March 2-4.

Veteran Marika Guerin, a three-point specialist and 5-foot-4 point guard from Sorel, Que., was honoured in an emotional post-game ceremony. The kinesiology major will be graduating after only three years but may return to work on a master's degree.

Also graduating from the program is medical student Jennifer Silver, a 5-foot-11 forward from Montreal, who was formally recognized on Seniors Day the previous year as she was not expected to return for a fourth season due her academic workload. Her return to the lineup against Bishop's was a bit of a surprise as she had missed nine straight games with a hand injury suffered against Laval on Jan. 4.

"Jen's working through (her recovery) and that's why I wanted to make sure she played today," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne of the starter, who played 21 minutes, scored 10 points, pulled down six rebounds and added a block and an assist. She shot 4-for-6 from the field and was perfect on a pair of free-throws. "I want to make sure she plays again next week against Laval, and of course she'll be with us for the post-season."

"Senior night is always tough, because they're kids that you wish you could keep," noted Thorne, who addressed the crowd in both French and English to speak of his graduating players. "You usually have big parts of your team that are leaving. Jen, it's her fourth year, and she came back to give us what she could (despite the demanding academic schedule) and she's done that, so that was great. Marika's in her third year so I'm hoping that we can talk a little to her and make her feel confident that she could, like Jen, (continue to) contribute, without us putting too much pressure on her."

The Martlets took a 19-8 lead after the first quarter and carried a 44-21 margin into the intermission. Bishop's narrowed its deficit to 54-40 after three but the hosts regrouped with a 19-10 difference in the final frame.

"We moved the ball well, attacked them and tried not to be stagnant," said Thorne, whose squad shot 49.1 per cent from the field (27/55). "(Our strong shooting) was because of getting good looks but also ball movement. That creates separation and gaps where you can attack. We saw a bit of a stall in the third quarter and that was because we became stagnant -- we were comfortable with what we had and everyone wanted to get a little something as opposed to just keeping it moving."

Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 centre, shot 7-for-12 from the field and sank her only free-throw. She also gathered eight rebounds and had one assist and a block in just 22 minutes on the court.

"The better we are in terms of ball movement (the better she can perform), so that we don't make her carry the load and let her be a little fresh," said Thorne. "Obviously with Jen Silver coming back we can do different things and have her play different 'bigs', so that's a pretty positive scenario. The fresher we have Alex, the stronger our team is and that's true for a few key people on our team."

Marie-Love Michel of Montreal followed with 11 points and six rebounds. She shot 3-for-8 from the field, 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and stole one ball. Fredericke Laflamme of Trois Rivières, Que., tallied nine points, thanks to a 3-for-3 shooting record from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, and a 1-for-2 success rate from the charity stripe.

The Gaiters were led by Maude Archambault, who recorded a game-high 16 points.

McGill had a 35-27 advantage in rebounds and a 2-0 edge in blocks. BU held a 12-4 difference in steals and turned the ball over 20 times to McGill's' 22. The Martlets shot 41.7 per cent from the three-point range (5/12) and were 14-for-18 from the line (77.8). Bishop's went 20-for-66 from the field (30.3), succeeded on just two of 17 attempts from downtown (11.8), and was 8-for-17 on free-throws (47.1).

McGill closes the regular season against league-leading Laval (13-1) in Quebec City on Feb. 23 with second place on the line. The last-place Gaiters (2-12) host fourth-place Concordia (6-8) on Feb. 22.

 

2016-17 RSEQ Women's Basketball Standings (updated) • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ

Pos	Équipe	MJ	V	D	PP	PC	MOY	Diff.	PTS
1	Laval	14	13	1	993	797	0.929	0.0	26
2	McGill	15	8	7	872	874	0.533	5.5	16
3	UQAM	15	7	8	913	940	0.467	6.5	14
4	Concordia	14	6	8	889	947	0.429	7.0	12
5	Bishop's	14	2	12	788	897	0.143	11.0	4

REMAINING GAMES IN REGULAR SEASON:

F37	Mer	2017-02-22	18:00	Concordia		Bishop's		Bishop's U.	Web
F38	Jeu	2017-02-23	18:00	McGill		Laval		PEPS	Web
F39	Sam	2017-02-25	14:00	Laval		Concordia		Concordia U.	Web
F40	Sam	2017-02-25	17:00	Bishop's		UQAM		UQAM	Web