MONTREAL – "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is an good principle to follow in life. That axiom was clearly in play Friday night as the defending national champion McGill University women's basketball team cruised to an 85-71 victory over the visiting Regina Cougars at Love Competition Hall.
 
Frederique Potvin, a senior from Ste. Julie, Que., scored 22 points, with a 5-for-9 performance from downtown, and teammate Geraldine Cabillo-Abante of St. laurent, Que., added 20 as the Martlets shot the lights out.
 
It was McGill's first game in a month, their season debut against a Canadian opponent and their first meeting with Regina since the Martlets won 72-62 in the national quarter-final last spring. In that game, Potvin scored 20 points, including four treys, as McGill shot a solid 41.7 per cent from the field, 52.6 from three-point range and 85.7 from the free-throw line.
 
On this night, the Martlets shot an even more efficient 53.7 per cent from the field, 47.8 from long-distance and a sizzling 94.1 from the line. As they say in Quebec, "la plus ça change, la plus c'est la même chose".
 
McGill outscored the Cougars 24-17 in the first quarter and increased that to 41-29 at halftime. The teams both tallied 22 in the third and McGill held a slight 22-20 advantage in the final stanza.
 
Joining the scoring parade was senior Alex Kiss-Rusk, the U SPORTS championship tourney MVP who making her first appearance of the McGill season after spending most of the summer overseas with the Canadian national team, including a stint at the FISU Summer Games in Chinese Taipei. The 6-foot-4 centre from Beaconsfield, Que., drained 14 points and pulled down a game-high six rebounds. She drew a lot of attention and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
 
Rounding out the scoring for the home side was freshman Charlotte Clayton, a 5-foot-8 guard from Newmarket, Ont., with nine, Montrealer Marie-Love Michel (6) and junior Stephanie Guinois-Cote (3) of St. Jacques le Mineur, Que.

Three member of the Cougars reached double digits, led by Regina natives Christina McCusker and fifth-year senior Charlotte Kot, with 15 points apiece, plus Kyanna Giles of Winnipeg, who drained a dozen.
 
Regina held a 28-20 margin in rebounding their bench outscored McGill's subs 23-12 but the Martlets had a 10-9 edge in steals and a 2-1 advantage in blocks. McGill also made fewer turnovers (17-14), which directly led to a 19-11 advantage on the scoreboard.
 
The Martlets (2-1) will play next at their own Redbird Classic Tournament, oct. 20-22, where they will confront St.FX, Toronto and Queen's, respectively. Regina (1-1) plays at Carleton on Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
 
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