MONTREAL – Rookie Stephy Tchoukuiegno came off the bench to score all eight of her points in the final 11 minutes, including the winning basket with 9.6 seconds remaining as McGill came away with a heart-thumping 57-55 victory over UQAM in women's hoops at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.

Tchoukuiegno, a 20-year-old physical education freshman who was recruited from Vanier College, shot 3-for-6 from the floor and made her only free-throw attempt.

Coming off the bench like a stealth fighter jet, Tchoukuiegno scored her first basket on a trey with 56 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Martlets a 42-40 lead. The 5-foot-7 guard from St. Laurent, Que., waited until the final minute of the game before adding her next basket, a critical layup and subsequent free-throw to complete a three-point play for a 55-53 lead with 21 seconds remaining in regulation. But the Citadins answered right back to knot the score at 55-55 when Yasmine Gasmi took an in-bound pass and drove to the basket with 16 seconds left.

That set the stage for the winning play. After a McGill time-out, Emma-Jane Scotten in-bounded the ball from the sideline to Jessica Salanon near mid-court. She dished off to Daniella Mbengo on her left, who found an open Tchoukuiegno down low on the left side for the winning layup and the rest is history.

Pandemonium ensued when the clock expired and the McGill bench erupted as everyone rushed to centre-court for a much-needed group hug.

"It's a monkey off my back but more than anything, I wanted that for those athletes, especially those who took an extra year to come back when they didn't need to after a tough (winless) year," said a relieved Rikki Bowles, who finally registered her first official league win as bench boss of the Martlets, a team that she once played for. "That makes me emotional, cause it's for them. Those kids worked their butts off, every day, every week. And so I wanted this win, not for me but for them to have a moment like that on the court and in the locker-room. That's what it's about.

"Stephy was clutch, a bit of a sleeper at times but she hit a big three and those two buckets at the end. For someone who has come in for her first year, that's a clutch two possessions in the last minute. I think that we got away from what we wanted to do offensively and our play was a bit random but then we found Stephy. That's what she can do. That's why we brought her into the game. She can shoot the three, she can get to the basket. She finishes, is strong and tough. So I'm really happy for her."

Mbengo led the McGill attack with 11 points, to go along with six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Also contributing offensively was Kristy Awikeh, who was assessed a rare technical foul for disputing a borderline call, but tallied a regular season-high eight points. Joy Taan-Tobias came off the bench to produce six points on a pair of triples.

McGill's bench outscored the UQAM subs by a telling 24-13 margin.

UQAM was led by Alexe Dufresne, who went 8-for-9 at the line to finish with 17 points, while Fredlaine Verrier and Yasmine Gasmi added 11 apiece.

McGill led 17-15 after the first quarter but trailed 32-25 at halftime. The Martlets outscored UQAM 19-10 in the third – erasing a seven point deficit late in the period – and both teams put up 13 points in the final frame.

In a game that featured nine lead changes (five for McGill), the Martlets had a distinctive 34-20 margin in rebounds. UQAM had a slight advantage in turnovers (28-25).

For the second straight rendezvous, the Citadins had a lopsided edge at the foul-line. They sunk 21 of 28 free-throws, compared to 11-for-15 for the Martlets. In Thursday's game, the Citadins went 10-for-19 at the stripe while McGill was 0-for-3.

"Off the record, I'd have a lot to say about that," Bowles laughed. "But on the record, UQAM's tough to guard in the post and I think that my athletes are doing their best. I don't necessarily dispute the fouls that were called but I think that we could get a (few more calls) down at the other end."

UQAM shot 36.4 per cent from the field (16/44) and went 2-for-9 from the arc. McGill replied with a 35.1 per cent success rate (20/57), including 6-for-24 from trey territory .

The result improved McGill's record to 1-7 on the season and moved the Martlets into the playoff picture as they now sit tied with fourth-place Concordia (1-7) for the final post-season berth in the five-team RSEQ conference. There are eight games remaining, three of them head-to-head battles between the Martlets and Stingers in mid-February.

Next on McGill's schedule is a home-and-home series with second-place Laval (7-2). The first will be played on Thursday, Jan. 19 in a 6 p.m. start at Love Competition Hall. It will mark McGill's annual 'Shoot for the Cure' fundraiser in support of breast cancer and the Martlets will be dressed in pink uniforms. Two days later, the provincial rivals will switch venues to Quebec City.

The third-place Citadins (5-3) enter a bye week and will host Concordia in their next game on Jan. 26.

MARTLET MURMURS: McGill basketball grad Gabriela Hébert (BA '16),  continues to impress with insightful analysis alongside solid play-by-play calling from veteran Moe Kahn on the streaming broadcasts of men's and women's games. Originally from Chicoutimi, Hébert played five seasons at forward for the Martlets, including a stint as co-captain. The tandem works well together and provides an entertaining product on the McGill airwaves.
 
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RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca