MONTREAL -- Frederique Potvin of Ste. Julie, Que., drained a game-winning trey with 16 seconds remaining to snap a 50-50 deadlock as McGill toppled UQAM 55-50 in women's basketball at Love Competition Hall on Thursday.

The win improved the Martlets' record to 38-23 in 61 overall meetings with the Citadins but more importantly. evened the season series between the teams at 2-2 and pushed the cross-town rivals into a tie for second place in the RSEQ conference with identical 7-6 records, heading into the final two weeks of play. The five-point margin of victory was not enough, however, as McGill needed to win by 10 to hold the head-to-head point-differential tie-breaker.

McGill trailed 15-13 after the first quarter but bounced back to carry a 28-26 edge into the intermission. The Martlets increased their lead to 46-34 after three quarters and appeared to be in position to have the needed point-spread but they were outscored 16-9 in the final frame.

"We were just undisciplined at the end," said Martlets head coach Ryan Thorne, whose troops won for the fourth straight outing as he improved his regular season record to 123-99 in 14 campaigns behind the McGill bench. "We started forcing things, everyone started to look for themselves and we got out of what we were doing to get us that lead. UQAM is a good team, so if you do that, they've got some talented players who can score."

Potvin, a 5-foot-10 guard, scored her first points of the night on that winning trey, to make it 53-50. After Gladys Hakizimana drained a free-throw with 11 seconds left, Potvin added a last-second freebie to seal the victory. She finished the soiree with four points, three rebounds an assist and a pair of steals in 22 minutes of court-time off the bench.

"She's a shooter and that's what she does," said Thorne of the first-year transfer from the NCAA's Pittsburgh Panthers. "If you give her an opportunity to knock one down she'll succeed and she did that. We knew we were going to get one of two good things out of that play: either we'd get that shot or open something inside for Alex Kiss-Rusk. The shot presented itself and Potvin read the screen and got an open look."

Hakizimana, a social work sophomore from Montreal, tallied a dozen points to lead the Martlets. The 5-foot-7 guard sank half of her six shots from beyond the three-point arc and was 3-for-4 on free-throws. She also gathered in one rebound and had four assists.

Fredericke Laflamme, a six-foot forward from Trois-Rivières, Que., scored 11 points and pulled down four boards. The psychology sophomore shot 4-for-5 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 record on three-pointers, and also registered a pair of steals.

"We have good (three-point) shooters," noted Thorne, whose team had a sparkling 47.4 per cent success rate from downtown. "If we get to play Fred Laflamme, who can step out and pull other posts out, then we open up the key and that's what she did. When they didn't mark her, she knocked down some shots, so that was a real positive for us."

Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 senior centre from Beaconsfield, Que., also reached double-digits with 10 points and collected eight rebounds. She shot 4-for-12 from the field, went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line and managed one assist with a pair of blocked shots.

Marika Guerin, a third-year guard from Sorel, Que., contributed eight points with a 3-for-8 effort from the field, including 2-for-4 on three-pointers. She was also credited with one rebound, four assists and one steal. Junior Marie-Love Michel of Montreal added a half-dozen points and matched that with six defensive zone rebounds. She also had one assist and a block.Sophomore Geraldine Cabillo-Abante of St. Laurent, Que., rounded out the scoring with four points and four rebounds, to go along with three steals and a pair of assists.

"We probably hoped for a little more scoring, but we'll take the W," offered Thorne.

Jessica Lubin led the Citadins with a "double-double" in the losing effort. She scored 21 points and ripped down 18 rebounds in 38 minutes on the court, only pausing for a two-minute breather.

The Martlets had a 3-2 edge in blocked shots while UQAM held a 34-28 rebounding difference, an 11-8 margin in steals and a favorable 25-19 advantage in turnovers. McGill shot 39.2 per cent from the field (20/51), including a stellar 9-for-19 record from three-point range and went 6-for-8 on free-throws. The Citadins shot 30.9 per cent from the field (21/68), including a dismal 7.1 per cent on treys (1/14) and were 7-for-12 from the stripe (58.3 per cent).

UQAM (7-6) hosts the Concordia Stingers (4-8) on Feb. 11. With three games remaining before playoffs, the Martlets (7-6) visit Concordia on Feb. 16, followed by a home game versus Bishop's (Feb. 18) before wrapping up their league schedule with a road game at division-leading Laval (Feb. 23).

MARTLET MURMURS: After the game, Martlets co-captains Alex Kiss-Rusk and Jennifer Silver took part in a brief ceremony with Redmen co-captain Dele Ogundokun, to honour referee Mike Homsy, a former McGill basketball player from 1978 to 1981 who will be retiring in a few weeks after 31 years of officiating, including stints at the Olympics and the PanAm Games... Silver, who has missed eight games with a hand-injury, is on the mend and expected back before playoffs.

 

2016-17 RSEQ Women's Basketball Standings (updated after games of Feb. 9) • Classement de la saison régulière

Pos	Équipe	MJ	V	D	PP	PC	MOY	Diff.	PTS
1	Laval	12	11	1	859	688	0.917	0.0	22
2	UQAM	13	7	6	780	790	0.538	4.5	14
3	McGill	13	7	6	746	766	0.538	4.5	14
4	Concordia	12	4	8	752	831	0.333	7.0	8
5	Bishop's	12	2	10	699	761	0.167	9.0	4