QUEBEC CITY --
Sarah-Jane Marois scored 17 points as fifth-ranked Laval toppled No.6 McGill 63-44 to clinch first-place for in RSEQ women's basketball at the Centre PEPS on Thursday. It marked Laval's second straight regular season pennant but the Rouge et Or havs not won the Quebec league banner since 2010-11.
McGill, the defending national champions, has now dropped three of their last four games. They lost the season series 3-1 to Laval, which secured home-court advantage throughout the RSEQ playoffs. The host team took a 17-8 lead after the first quarter, a commanding 37-15 margin at halftime and had a 52-23 advantage after three. The Martlets posted a 21-9 fourth quarter rally but the comeback effort was too little, too late.
Marois shot 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line. She also collected three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
Her teammate
Jane Gagné earned 11 points, three rebounds and had an assist.
Raphaëlle Côté recorded nine points and corralled a game-high 10 rebounds.
Leading the way for McGill was
Geraldine Cabillo-Abante, a 5-foot-5 junior guard from St. Laurent, Que., with 12 points. She shot 4-for-6 from the floor, drained her only three-point attempt, and was perfect on three free throws. She also had three assists and two steals.
Alex Kiss-Rusk of Beaconsfield, Que., followed with nine points, seven rebounds and blocked one shot. Veteran point-guard
Frederique Potvin of Ste. Julie, Que., was held to just four points in 20 minutes of court-time before a collision forced her to leave the game with an undisclosed in the fourth quarter.
The Rouge et Or had a 40-38 edge in rebounds, a 3-1 margin in blocks and a 16-14 turnover advantage, while McGill had an 8-4 difference in steals.
The Martlets shot just 25.8 per cent from the field (16/62), 22.2 from downtown (4/18), and were 8-for-14 from the free-throw line. Laval shot 36.7 from the field (22/60), including a 5-for-15 mark from beyond the arc, and was 14-for-19 on free-throws.
McGill (10-5) closes out the regular season by celebrating "Senior Day" on Saturday (Feb. 24) against UQAM (5-10). Immediately after the game, they will be paying tribute to three graduating players, namely
Frederique Potvin,
Marie-Love Michel and
Alex Kiss-Rusk. Tip-off at Love Competition Hall is slated for 1 p.m., followed by the men's game at 3 p.m.
The Rouge et Or (11-4) visit Concordia (4-10) that same afternoon.
| 2017-18 RSEQ Women's Basketball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière de la RSEQ |
|
|
| 1 |
Laval |
15 |
11 |
4 |
940 |
852 |
0.733 |
0.0 |
22 |
| 2 |
McGill |
15 |
10 |
5 |
937 |
842 |
0.667 |
1.0 |
20 |
| 3 |
Bishop's |
15 |
7 |
8 |
942 |
986 |
0.467 |
4.0 |
14 |
| 4 |
UQAM |
15 |
5 |
10 |
936 |
956 |
0.333 |
6.0 |
10 |
| 5 |
Concordia |
14 |
4 |
10 |
862 |
981 |
0.286 |
6.5 |
8 |
