MONTREAL --
Geraldine Cabillo-Abante of St. Laurent, Que., scored 10 points and three of her teammates tallied nine apiece as visiting McGill rallied in the final stanza to defeat UQAM 58-50 in RSEQ women's basketball at the Centre Sportif, Thursday.
The result gave McGill a four-game sweep over the Citadins this and improved their lifetime record to 47-23 in 70 head-to-head meetings with UQAM. It also improved the third-place Martlets record to 9-6 with one game remaining, at home to division-leading Laval (15-0) on Saturday. McGill can tie Concordia (10-6) for second place but the Stingers hold the head-to-head tie-breaker and will host a sudden-death semifinal between the cross-town rivals next week.
McGill led the first quarter 16-13 and had a 30-25 advantage going into half-time. But the Citadins came back hard in the third, winning the quarter 19-10 to take a 44-40 advantage into the fourth quarter. McGill came back in the final stanza, with an 18-6 edge.
Cabillo-Abante, a 5-foot-5 guard, shot 3-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 on free-throw line. The physical education senior also registered three rebounds, one assist and a steal in 20 minutes of playing time.
Montrealer
Trishia Villedrouin, an economics freshman, scored nine points, going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc, to go along with one rebound, an assist and two steals. The product of Champlain College drained a key pair of three-pointers four minutes into the fourth quarter put her team up 48-46.
Sirah Diarra of Longueuil, Que., also registered nine points but pulled down an impressive 17 rebounds, including 15 under the defensive boards. The first-year NCAA transfer also contributed a pair of blocked shots in 34 minutes of play.
The Citadins had three players reach double-digits, led by
Clara Blachier (14 pts),
Veronique Boivin (11 pts) and
Natacha Bwabwa (10 pts).
McGill connected on 32.8 per cent of their attempts from the field (20/61), went 5-for-12 from the arc and drained 13 of 18 attempts at the charity stripe. UQAM, which shot a lethargic 22.4 per cent (15/67), drained three of 18 treys and made 17 of 23 from the line.
UQAM, which dropped to 2-13, is tied with Bishop's for the last playoff berth and in a timely match-up, will play each other at UQAM on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Martlets will honour their graduating seniors during a doubleheader at home on Feb. 23 in an event that will celebrate Black History Month, against No.1 ranked Laval (15-0). The Rouge et Or will be looking to become the league's first undefeated team since 1995-96 when McGill went 12-0 en route to a Quebec title and a bronze medal at Nationals. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Love Competition Hall. The matinee will feature entrepreneurs from the black community and a baby race -- presented by the
Dispensaire diététique de Montréal -- at the women's halftime!
MARTLET MURMURS: McGill, which has won seven consecutive league championships, has not finished lower than second place since 2009-10, when they posted a 7-9 record to end up third... The RSEQ all-stars and major award winners will be announced on Monday afternoon.
2018-19 RSEQ Women's Basketball Standings
(16-game season; Top three advance to playoffs)
| 1 |
x-Laval |
15 |
15 |
0 |
1135 |
807 |
1.000 |
0.0 |
30 |
| 2 |
x-Concordia |
16 |
10 |
6 |
1050 |
966 |
0.625 |
5.5 |
20 |
| 3 |
x-McGill |
15 |
9 |
6 |
855 |
883 |
0.600 |
6.0 |
18 |
| 4 |
Bishop's |
15 |
2 |
13 |
836 |
1073 |
0.133 |
13.0 |
4 |
| 5 |
UQAM |
15 |
2 |
13 |
898 |
1045 |
0.133 |
13.0 |
4 |
x-clinched playoff berth
