MONTREAL – Five members of the McGill University Martlets were among the laureates as the women's university basketball honours were announced Thursday, by the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec.
 
Emma-Jane Scotten earned RSEQ second-team all-star status, while Daniella Mbengo was named rookie of the year and earned a spot on the conference's all-rookie honour roll along with Stephy Tchoukuiegno. The Sylvia Sweeney Award nomination for best combining basketball with academics, leadership and community service went to Jessica Salanon and the Tracy MacLeod Award nomination for determination, perseverance and courage was presented to Amélie Rochon, a medical student.
 
The league's three other major award recipients were all from the Bishop's Gaiters, namely Amaiquen Siciliano (player of the year), Deborah Aboagye (most outstanding defensive player) and McGill basketball graduate Dianna Ros (coach of the year), who led Bishop's to a 14-2 first-place finish in her inaugural season as bench boss.
 
Scotten, a 20-year-old kindergarten and elementary education junior from Ottawa, led the Martlets in minutes played and scoring, with an average of 29.5 minutes per game and 472 points, respectively. She was third in rebounds with 78. The 5-foot-9 guard was one of only two players to start all 16 regular season contests. She averaged 8.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, shot 37.5 per cent from the field (42/112), 27.1 per cent from there-point range (16/59) and 69.6 per cent from the free-throw line (39/56). She added 39 assist, 19 steals and one blocked shot.
 
Mbengo, 20, is a social work freshman from Montreal, was the team's other player to start all 16 games. The 5-foot-6 guard was second on the squad in minutes played (463) points scored (463) and field-goals made (164) and was fifth in rebounds (50). The athletic rookie also led the team in assists (45), steals (22) and free-throw shooting (74.2 per cent). She was fifth in rebounds (50) and was credited with four blocked shots. She averaged 28.9 minutes of playing time, shot 31.7 per cent from the floor (52/164) and 16.2 from the arc (6/37).
 
Salanon, a 23-year-old management senior from Ile-Perrot, Que., earned Academic All-Canadian status and made the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. She was a recipient of McGill's Claude Généreux and Myriam Legault Excellence Award for high academic performance and leadership. She also merited a Dorothy Nichol Scholarship presented to a McGill student-athlete for academic achievement and contributions to extra-curricular activities in athletics. Salanon has been quite active in numerous community outreach programs over her four seasons. Since March, 2021, Salanon has served as a supervisor administrative agent in a COVID vaccination clinic, has participated in a 15-kilometre "Run for the Cure" fundraiser for breast cancer research and a paid a Halloween visit to patients at the Montreal Children's Hospital. She has also been involved with delivering food to the Old Brewery Mission for the homeless, as well as Christmas gift-wrapping for Sun Youth, a charity for needy families. On the court, the 5-foot-5 guard averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
 
Rochon, 23, is a fourth-year medical student from Lévis, Que., who has merited Academic All-Canadian status and qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.  She has managed to juggle varsity basketball with a challenging schedule that involves a full-time rotation that typically requires 12-hour shifts at various hospitals. One measure of her perseverance and determination, was that she used up her medical school allotment of eight sick days, simply to be able to play basketball for McGill. On the court, the 6-foot-3 centre came off the bench to average 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Tchoukuiegno, a 21-year-old physical and health education freshman from St. Laurent, Que., had a solid rookie campaign and earned five starts. The 5-foot-7 guard was typically the first player off the bench but finished second on the team in court time, averaging 25.8 minutes per game, and led the squad in both points-per-game (9.4) and three-pointers made with 17 in 12 contests. She shot a solid 32.7 successs rate from beyond the arc (17/52), ranked second with 29.3 percent in field-goal shooting (42/107) and was third in free-throw shooting at 70.6 per cent (12/17). She added 23 rebounds, 13 assists, a dozen steals and one block.
 
The RSEQ men's basketball all-stars will be announced on Friday.
 
 
2022-23 RSEQ UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MAJOR AWARDS & ALL-STARS
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Amaiquen Siciliano, Bishop's
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Deborah Aboagye, Bishop's
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Daniella Mbengo, McGill
COACH OF THE YEAR: Dianna Ros, Bishop's
LEADERSHIP (Sylvia Sweeney Award): Jessica Salanon, McGill
PERSEVERANCE (Tracy McLeod Award): Amélie Rochon, McGill
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS:
Amaiquen Siciliano, Bishop's
Fredlyne Verrier, UQAM
Victoria Gauna, Bishop's
Lea-Sophie Verret, Laval
Areej Burgonia, Concordia
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS:
Sabrine Khelifi, Laval
Alexe Dufresne, UQAM
Fredlaine Verrier, UQAM
Jael Kabunda, Bishop's
Emma-Jane Scotten, McGill
 
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:
Daniella Mbengo, McGill
Stephy Tchoukuiegno, McGill
Angela Batrla, Concordia
Yasmine Gasmi, UQAM
Rowena Blais, Concordia


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