MONTREAL -- Senior
Alex Kiss-Rusk of Beaconsfield, Que., registered a "double-double" as first-ranked McGill defeated Bishop's 66-57 in RSEQ women's basketball at Love Competition Hall on Saturday.
The victory avenged a shocking 52-40 loss to the Gaiters in Lennoxville, Que., on Friday.
The Martlets led 16-14 after the first quarter but found themselves trailing 34-32 at halftime and 51-46 after three before closing out the win with a dominant 20-6 final frame.
"We had a bit of a talk, a bit of a team-searching session earlier on today and just talked about the little things that we weren't doing," explained McGill head coach
Ryan Thorne of the turn-around. "Sometimes when you're on a bit of a win streak, you forget the details that got you there, and I think that's what was happening. We were forgetting all the little details. We weren't screening well, we weren't trying to help others get open, we were all just looking for ourselves. We needed to come back together as a team and help each other get open."
Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 centre who tallied a career low four points the night before, scored 14 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, including a dozen in the defensive zone. The 24-year-old social work senior shot 6-for-15 from the field and 2-for-5 from the free-throw line. She also had a pair of blocks, one steal and an assist. Kiss-Rusk now has 14 double-doubles in 20 games overall, accomplishing that feat in eight of 10 regular season contests.
"She played a lot of minutes last night (in Lennoxville) as we tried to get her out on the floor, tried to get the win. And then she had to turn around and play a lot of minutes today, and that's within less than 24 hours," Thorne noted. "She showed a lot of character there. I don't think it was one of her better games but I think just her abilities will make the numbers look good. We expect her to dominate a little more, and when she (does that) it opens up everything else. You saw down the stretch when they started to collapse we started to get a whole bunch of shots, so that's what she does. Yesterday... she was floating outside -- that's her playing outside, no one's moving, no collapse -- and then every shot came tough."
Senior
Frederique Potvin of Ste. Julie, Que., matched Kiss-Rusk's offensive output with 14 points. The 5-foot-10 guard shot 5-for-11 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc, and sank half her four free-throw attempts. She also grabbed four defensive rebounds to go along with five assists, one steal and a block.
Senior
Marie-Love Michel and freshman
Charlotte Clayton also reached double-digits in scoring with 12 points apiece. Michel, a winger from Montreal, shot 4-for-11 from the field and was perfect on four free-throws. She corralled six rebounds, stole four balls and had an assist. Clayton, a rookie guard from Newmarket, Ont., shot 4-for-8 from downtown, grabbed four rebounds, and had an assist and a steal in 26 minutes off the bench.
"Charlotte's game was amazing," Thorne noted. "She's been in a little bit of a slump. You know when you see the first one go down then you just get more confidence, and that's what she was... more confident. She got open shots that she knocked down and felt confident about. Defensively, (Charlotte's) a very good on-ball defender, so she was able to give us both sides of the floor."
The Martlets had a 40-33 advantage in rebounds, a favourable 16-15 edge in turnovers and a 10-8 margin in steals, while both teams managed three blocks.
McGill shot 37.7 per cent from the field (23/61), 42.1 from beyond the arc (8/19), and 70.6 from the charity stripe (12/17). The Gaiters shot 36.1 from the field (22/61), 38.9 from downtown (7/18), and 54.5 from the line (6/11 ).
The division-leading Martlets are now 8-2 with six games remaining. McGill will host second-place Laval (7-2) on Thursday, Feb. 1. Bishop's, which sits third with a 5-6 record, is four points behind Laval. They get a week off before visiting last-place UQAM (2-8) on Feb. 8.
LINK TO BOXSCORE
| 2017-18 RSEQ Women's Basketball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière du basketball (f) |
|
|
| 1 |
McGill |
10 |
8 |
2 |
649 |
550 |
0.800 |
0.0 |
16 |
| 2 |
Laval |
9 |
7 |
2 |
556 |
502 |
0.778 |
0.5 |
14 |
| 3 |
Bishop's |
11 |
5 |
6 |
695 |
719 |
0.455 |
3.5 |
10 |
| 4 |
Concordia |
10 |
3 |
7 |
624 |
688 |
0.300 |
5.0 |
6 |
| 5 |
UQAM |
10 |
2 |
8 |
584 |
649 |
0.200 |
6.0 |
4 |
