MONTREAL -- Gladys Hakizimana scored 19 points and Sirah Diarra recorded a "double-double" but it was all in vain as second-seeded Concordia came from behind to defeat the visiting McGill women's basketball team 62-55 in an RSEQ sudden-death semifinal at John Dore Court, Wednesday. The result ended McGill's seven-year reign as queens of the Quebec conference.

Concordia (10-6) advances to the RSEQ championship game in Quebec City, where they will confront No.1 ranked Laval (15-1), which defeated UQAM 68-63 in the other conference semifinal. At stake is a berth at the U SPORTS Final 8 tournament, hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto, March 7-11.

Myriam Leclerc scored a game-high 28 points as the No. 10 ranked Stingers rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes and 38 seconds. Trailing 51-43, Concordia went on a stunning 19-4 run down the stretch for the victory.
 
The Stingers had a 19-9 lead after the opening quarter and clung to a 30-29 margin heading into halftime.  McGill continued their methodical control again after the break and led 43-41 after three before the wheels fell off as Concordia took the final stanza 21-12. 
 
Leclerc shot 7-for-16 from the floor, 4-for-9 from beyond the arc and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. She added four assists, two rebounds, a pair of steals and a block. Teammate Caroline Task tallied 14 points, shooting 6-for-18 from the field and 2-for-8 from downtown.
 
Hakizimana, a native Montrealer who was named an RSEQ second-team all-star along with Diarra, paced the Martlets, on 4-for-6 shooting, including three treys. The social work senior was perfect on all four free-throws, and added four rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal.
 
Diarra, who hails from Longueuil, Que., registered 14 points and pulled down an impressive 15 rebounds, including 12 under the defensive boards. The first-year NCAA transfer also contributed four blocked shots in 37 minutes of play.
 
McGill connected on 43.1 per cent of their attempts from the field (22/51), went 6-for-18 from the arc and drained five of eight attempts at the charity stripe. The Stingers, shot 34.9 per cent (22/63), drained six of 24 treys and made 12 of 15 from the line.
 
McGill concluded their season with a 12-13 overall record, including a 10-6 third-place finish in the regular season. Concordia, which took four of five meetings against McGill this season, improved their head-to-head record to 66-65 overall since 1981.

The Martlets, who featured a roster composed of three freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and three non-graduating seniors, are poised to return next season with their line-up intact.

MARTLET MURMURS:  Before tip-off, an RSEQ conference official handed out some hardware to the all-stars and major awards recipients... McGill honourees included aforementioned second-team all-stars Sirah Diarra and Gladys Hakizimana, in addition to a pair of Martlets on the all-rookie team: Shayann Laguerre and Trishia Villedrouin.