LENNOXVILLE, QUE – Sophomore Aicha Hassan-Omar hit a buzzer-beating jump shot with 0.8 seconds remaining to give the visiting McGill Martlets a stunning 66-64 victory over division-leading Bishop's in women's basketball action at the Mitchell Gymnasium, Thursday.
 
It was the Martlets first buzzer-beater in six years, dating back to a game-winning basket by Gladys Hakizimana who connected with 0.1 seconds left in a 57-56 home-court win over UQAM on Nov. 8, 2018. The result was only the Martlets second win in the last 12 meetings with the Gaiters, who dropped to 2-1 in league play, while McGill evened its record at 2-2.
 
McGill led 17-7 after the opening quarter and took a 34-27 advantage into halftime. But the previously undefeated Gaiters awoke to win the third quarter 22-14 for a slim 49-48 advantage heading into the final stanza. They stretched that to a five-point margin in the opening minutes of the fourth, only to watch in disbelief as the Martlets took the game by prevailing 18-15 in the final quarter.

The Martlets, who had a 37-30 edge in rebounding, won the game with ice water in their veins. Cool under pressure, they shot a season-best 78.9 per cent from the charity stripe (15-for-19), including a pair of freebies by Seyna Diggs in front of a hostile crowd with 11.4 seconds remaining to put McGill ahead  64-62, only to see BU race down the court and knot the score at 64-64 on a basket by Jasmine Martel, which set the stage for a McGill time-out with 7.5 seconds left on the clock.

Daniella Mbengo then initiated the winning play with a give-and-go pass to Seyna Diggs on the right side. Diggs returned the pass out to Mbengo and she drove to the basket, before spotting Hassan-Omar completely open on the left side, just in front of the Gaiters bench. 

Hassan-Omar, a 5-foot-9 guard from Gatineau, Que., drained a 23-foot jumper from the edge of the arc. The 19-year-old chemical engineering sophomore only had two baskets in the entire game.

"It was no accident (getting the ball to her). Earlier in the preseason, she went 5-for-5 from three-point range," said McGill head coach Rikki Bowles. "And in our last time-out, we were planning for the ball to be in-bounded to Seyna in the post or Lily (Chatila) in a high-post screen. I told Aicha to spot up and be ready if it comes to her. It didn't exactly go as planned but the ball got to Aicha with time and space. It's really nice to see her confidence growing and she showed it there with that shot. It was really exciting."

Hassan-Omar's winning basket overshadowed a pair of stellar performances by her co-conspirators on the final play. Mbengo tallied 18 points to pace the visitors, while Diggs registered her first double-double of the season and third of her collegiate career.
 
Mbengo, a social work junior from Montreal, shot 6-for-8 from the field, including a 1-for-2 effort from three-point range. In 31 minutes of court time, the 5-foot-6 guard went 5-for-8 from the free-throw line. She was also credited with three rebounds and four assists, none bigger than her last-second pass to Hassan-Omar on the final play.
 
Diggs, a 6-foot-1 forward from Montreal, scored 16 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, The Arts sophomore shot 5-for-11 from the floor and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.
 
"Seyna was great, under the glass, with points in the paint, offensive rebounds and put-backs," Bowles noted. "And Dani (Mbengo) was really good too. The biggest thing for her was shooting in the gym all summer; she shot the ball every day and now she's a threat from the outside and can put it on the ground in attack (mode)... Bishop's puts a lot of pressure on the perimeter and denies, so its hard to run an offence against them. You really have to go north-south and Dani had some great drives when we were struggling to score. She really kept us in there."

Three Gaiters reached double-digit scoring in a losing cause, namely Laurie Lafleur (18), Shaylan Greaves (14) and Eve Atchampone (10).
  
McGill, which had a favourable 23-12 advantage in turnovers, shot a season-best 45.3 per cent from the floor (24/53) despite making only three of 15 from the arc. Bishop's shot 41 per cent (25/61), went 5-for-18 from distance and 9-for-18 from the line.

The Martlets improbed their all-time head-to-head series record to 88-81 against Bishop's.

McGill (2-2) returns home to host UQAM (0-3) on Saturday (Nov. 23) in a 4 p.m. tip-off, which will be followed by the men's match-up at 6 p.m. at Love Competition Hall. The Gaiters have a week off to ponder this setback before they host UQAM on Nov. 28.
 
BOXSCORE
 
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS


SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca