No. 2 McGill masters No. 5 Marauders in exhibition action

QUEBEC CITY -- Teammates Alex Kiss-Rusk and Mariam Sylla registered a pair of "double-doubles" as No.2-ranked McGill rallied in the final quarter for a 65-55 victory over No.5 McMaster in a CIS women's basketball exhibition contest held Monday in the Quebec provincial capital at Laval's Amphithéâtre-gymnase Desjardins.

The Marauders led 14-11 after the first quarter, 28-26 at halftime and 42-40 after three before McGill took control, winning the final stanza 25-13. The Martlets thoroughly dominated under the boards with a lopsided 50-27 advantage in rebounding.

Trailing by two early in the fourth quarter, Kiss-Rusk hit four consecutive jump shots to ignite the McGill offence and give her side the lead for good, at 48-42. The 6-foot-4 psychology junior from Beaconsfield, Que., finished with a game-high 22 points, to go along with a dozen rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal in just 18 minutes of court time. She shot 10-for-16 from the field and went 2-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Sylla, a 6-foot-1 pharmacolgy senior from Guinea, had an equally impressive performance with 16 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and a steal. She went 5-for-9 in field-goal shooting and drained six of nine free-throws.

McGill junior Jennifer Silver came off the bench and struck for nine points and six rebounds in 18 minutes of playing time. Freshman Gladys Hakizimana added seven points and senior point-guard Dianna Ros collected five points, a half-dozen rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot in 35 minutes of court time.

Leading the way for the Marauders were rookies Danielle Boiago and Clare Kenney with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

McGill shot 35.7 per cent from the floor (25/70), sank only 2 of 17 from three-point range and went 13-for-19 from the charity stripe. McMaster shot 34.5 (20/58) and went 4-for-18 from the arc. They sank 11 of 16 attempts from the line. The Marauders had a favourable 21-18 advantage in turnovers, including 10-7 edge in steals and a 3-1 margin in steals.

McMaster, which dropped to 10-3 against CIS opponents, meets Laval on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

McGill, which improved to 8-2 versus CIS opponents, now has a two-week layoff to prepare for the resumption of their regular season RSEQ schedule when they play host to the Rouge et Or on Jan. 14 in a 6 pm tip-off at Love Competition Hall. Laval is ranked No.8 in the CIS and share first-place atop the Quebec conference with McGill and UQAM -- all three own an identical 3-1 record in league play.

Source: McGill Athletics