VICTORIA -- Frederique Potvin of Ste. Julie, Que., scored a season-high 20 points and Alex Kiss-Rusk of Beaconsfield, Que., recorded a "double-double" as fourth-seeded McGill defeated No.5 Regina 72-62 in the opening round of the ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS women's basketball Final 8 national championship at CARSA Performance Gym on Thursday.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/wbkb/index

It was the fifth straight win and ninth in the past 10 for the Martlets, who advance to face top-seeded Carleton in the semifinals on Saturday (Mar. 11) at 7 p.m. (Eastern), in a game slated to be broadcast live on Sportsnet 360. It marks the third consecutive year that McGill will play in the medal round at Nationals, after finishing fourth in 2016 and second in 2015. They own a lifetime 13-17 record at the Final Eight tournament.

The Martlets mirrored the Redmen, who also reached the semis of their Final Eight tourney in Halifax and both will confront Carleton in a nationally televised semifinal on Saturday. The Martlets suffered a 51-46 setback at Carleton in preseason play on Oct. 29.

"The girls worked hard," said head coach Ryan Thorne, whose record improved to 228-183 in 411 games overall behind the McGill bench, "What was really important for us was just our rotation-defence and our ball-screen defence. Offensively we had (a height) advantage inside with Alex so we were trying to pound it in there where we could. They doubled her, so we found some open shooters and we shot the ball well, so that was (the key)."

In fact, the Martlets shot a solid 41.7 per cent from the field, including a sizzling 52.6 from three-point range (10-for-19), and 85.7 from the free-throw line.

"I said to Ryan Thorne after the game that if they shoot like that they're going to be a tough, tough out in this tournament," offered Regina bench boss Dave Taylor. "They're healthy and they can defend, so if they can score they're going to be really tough."

Potvin, a 5-foot-10 guard in her first season with the Martlets after transferring from the NCAA's University of Pittsburgh, shot 7-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-7 from downtown, and sank both her free-throw attempts. She also grabbed seven rebounds, stole one ball, dished out five assists and blocked a shot.

Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 centre, tallied a dozen points and pulled down 11 rebounds, including six in the offensive zone. It was her 12th double-double in 31 games overall. The psychology senior, who was named McGill's player of the game, shot 5-for-11 from the field and was 2-for-4 from the charity stripe. She blocked one shot and was also credited with six assists.

"What (Kiss-Rusk) does, you have to game-plan it," Taylor admitted. "You saw tonight our plan was to try and collapse down on her a little bit, but when you surround her with shooters she changes it. There's players who you have to game-plan around and she's the kid you have to game-plan. When they take advantage of the weaknesses in your game plan, this is what happens."

Jennifer Silver of Montreal and Marika Guerin of Sorel, Que., also reached double-digits in scoring with 12 points apiece. Silver, a fourth-year medical student who flew out west a few days later than the team did because of her academic workload, shot 3-for-7 from the field and was perfect on six tries from the line. She also corralled four rebounds and blocked one shot. Guerin, a 5-foot-4 point guard, shot a killer 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, all in the first half. The graduating junior collected two rebounds and had three assists and a steal.

The Cougars only had one player in double figures, with Katie Polischuk collecting 17 points to merit Game MVP honours for her side.

The teams were knotted 16-16 after the opening quarter but the Martlets jumped ahead to 36-30 at the half and carried a 49-40 lead into the fourth quarter. Regina narrowed the gap to just one point at 51-50 when Polischuk hit a three with seven minutes remaining in the final frame, but McGill quickly resurged with seven straight points, sparked by a timely trey from Potvin. The gap was never less than six the rest of the way.

"This was just a case of a team that's been in this situation before," explained Thorne. "It's been a long road for us getting back -- we had a lot of injuries all season -- so probably our record doesn't reflect how strong mentally those girls are. They've been there before so it wasn't a tough situation for them."

McGill, which improved to 23-9 overall and 21-9 against Canadian university teams, had eight players contributing on the scoresheet.

Gladys Hakizimana, a sophomore guard from Montreal, chipped in with six points, three rebounds, a pair of assists and a block. Geraldine Cabillo-Abante of St. Laurent, Que., tallied five points and added two assists. Fredericke Laflamme of Trois-Rivières, Que., chip in with three points in just five minutes of court-time. Marie-Love Michel of Montreal rounded out the scoring with two points, to go along with four rebounds and one steal.

The Martlets had a 41-39 rebounding advantage and a 4-2 margin in blocks. Regina edged its opponent 4-3 in steals and had a 14-13 advantage in turnovers.

McGill shot 25-for-60 from the field and was 12-for-14 on free-throws. The Cougars shot 35.4 per cent from the field (23/65), including 4-for-16 from beyond the arc, and matched the Martlets' record from the stripe.

The Martlets are bidding to win their first national title and become only the second Quebec school to win the women's basketball title, since Bishop's went back-to-back in 1983 and 1984.

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times EASTERN)
 
Thursday, March 9
3 p.m. Quarter-final 1: No.3 Queen's 60, No. 6 Cape Breton 51
5 p.m. Quarter-final 2: No. 2 Saskatchewan 59, No. 7 Laval 69
9 p.m. Quarter-final 3: No. 4 McGill 72, No. 5 Regina 62
11 p.m. Quarter-final 4: No. 1 Carleton 77, No. 8 Victoria 66
 
Friday, March 10
9 p.m. Consolation 1: Cape Breton vs. Saskatchewan (USPORTS.LIVE)
11 p.m. Consolation 2: Regina vs. Victoria (USPORTS.LIVE)
 
Saturday, March 11
5 p.m. Semifinal 1: Queen's vs. Laval (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)
7 p.m. Semifinal 2: McGill vs. Carleton (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)
10 p.m. 5th-place game (USPORTS.LIVE)
 
Sunday, March 12
1 p.m. Bronze (USPORTS.LIVE)
4 p.m. Final (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)
 
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David Conlin
University of Victoria
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