STE. FOY, QUE – Brinly Holt came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points as division-leading Laval defeated McGill 70-60 in RSEQ women's basketball at the Centre PEPS, Thursday.
 
The result was a damper for the Martlets who were playing on the 105th anniversary of the first-ever Canadian intercollegiate women's basketball game, on Feb. 6, 1920, when McGill defeated Queen's 21-16 in Montreal.

The contest started 35 minutes late due to a snowstorm in the Quebec City area that played havoc with traffic and resulted in a delayed arrival by the officiating crew. It was also McGill's first game in almost two weeks and Laval took advantage early on, scoring the first four baskets for an 8-0 jump start and they led from start to finish. The Rouge et Or held a 16-11 margin after the opening quarter, 35-26 at halftime and 52-43 after three.
 
McGill had a favourable 21-15 edge in turnovers but couldn't capitalize as Laval dominated under the boards with a 35-22 edge in rebounding.
 
The Martlets had two players in double digit scoring with Emma-Jane Scotten netting 17 points and Daniella Mbengo tallying 15. Teammate Seyna Digs added nine.
 
The Rouge et Or had four players in double figures, including three starters who tallied 10 apiece: Lea-Sophie Verret, Rosemarie Dumont and Sabrine Khelifi.
 
Laval shot 47.4 per cent from the field (27/57), 6-for-19 from three-point range and 10-for-12 from the free-throw line. McGill shot 39.7 from the floor (25/63), 5-for-20 from the arc and 5-for-7 from the line.
 
Laval won for the second consecutive outing and improved to 10-2 as they remained deadlocked with Bishop's (10-3) atop the RSEQ standings. The result was also the fourth straight setback for the third-place Martlets who dropped to 7-6 with three games remaining. McGill has a four-point cushion on fourth-place Concordia (5-7). Both the Martlets and Stingers are assured of a playoff berth, however, as winless UQAM (0-14) sits last in the five-team conference.
 
With Laval holding a lifetime record of 99-78 overall in 177 head-to-head confrontations, the provincial rivals will meet for a fourth and final time of the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 8) in a 4 p.m. tip-off at McGill's Currie Gym.
 
GAME NOTES: Both teams lost a player with a lower body injury and they had to be helped off the court. McGill's Katie Rathwell, a psychology senior from North Battleford, Sask., went down on her first shift, with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter and Laval's Astan Diarra suffered her injury with 6:02 remaining in the final stanza… After the contest, the host team honoured retiring Laval administrator Linda Marquis, a McGill grad (M.Ed. '82) and basketball All-Canadian with the Martlets (1981-82), who had a 30-year coaching career with Laval (1985 to 2015). Her name was embossed onto the playing surface of the basketball court.
 
BOXSCORE
 
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS
 
U SPORTS STANDINGS
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
McGill Athletics and Recreation
(514) 983- 7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
www.mcgillathletics.ca