MONTREAL – The McGill women's basketball team begins post-season play in Quebec City on Wednesday for a sudden-death RSEQ conference semifinal against the No. 5 ranked Laval Rouge et Or. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Amphithéâtre Desjardins, situated in the Pavillon de l'Éducation Physique et des Sports (PEPS).
 
The meeting will feature a matchup of McGill head coach Rikki Bowles against Laval bench boss Guillaume Giroux, her former assistant coach during Bowles' playing days with the Martlets. Giroux left McGill in 2015 to take over the coaching reins at Laval, after serving four seasons with the Martlets as part of Ryan Thorne's support staff. Giroux now has a 22-13 record in 35 head-to-head meetings with McGill.
 
The underdog Martlets will be attempting to snap a number of streaks in one swoosh.
 
Laval owns a 24-3 overall record, including a current 23-game win streak since its last loss, a 77-61 preseason setback to Queen's on Oct. 5 in Lennoxville, Que. The team's only other losses were in the exhibition season, included an 87-52 decision at UNB (Sept. 30) and a 65-61 result against Saint Mary's (Sept. 29). The Rouge et Or finished first in the five-team RSEQ with an unblemished 16-0 record, the league's first undefeated season since McGill went 12-0 in 1995-96.
 
McGill, which finished fourth in the Quebec-based league with a 5-11 record, enters the game with a 10-13 record overall, including a current eight-game losing streak.
 
Laval has swept all four meetings with McGill this season, winning 72-41 in Quebec City (Nov. 18), 59-41 in Montreal (Feb. 8), 70-44 in the provincial capital (Feb. 10) and 43-31 at Love Competition Hall (Feb. 24).

The Rouge et Or actually holds a five-game head-to-head win streak over McGill since the last Martlets victory, a 55-54 decision in Montreal last season (Jan. 19/23). On their home court in Quebec City, Laval has won eight straight meetings over McGill since the Martlets prevailed 61-60 on Nov. 28, 2019.

Despite the apparent odds, McGill previously halted Laval's attempt for a perfect season in the final game of the 2018-19 schedule, when they upset the No.1 ranked Rouge et Or 53-52 in Montreal as Laval finished with a 15-1 record, while the third-place Martlets went 10-6.
 
McGill is 78-93 lifetime against Laval, with a 13-8 record in post-season play since they last met in the playoffs, a 55-51 Laval semifinal victory at PEPS on Feb. 26, 2020. That result ended McGill's five-game playoff win streak over Laval. The last time the Martlets defeated Laval in the playoffs was on Mar. 3, 2018, a 56-52 victory at Centre PEPS to capture the RSEQ championship for the seventh consecutive year.
 
The winner of Wednesday's semifinal will advance to the league championship game on Saturday (Mar. 2) against the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between third-place Concordia (7-9) and second-seeded Bishop's (9-7).

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