The first place Martlets blew out the Stingers in the first round of RSEQ playoffs
On March 10, the Stingers played their cross-town rivals, the McGill Martlets, during the first round of the RSEQ final four. The Stingers, who were looking to upset the number one team in the nation, were eliminated after being blown out by a score of 85-60.
The Stingers got a quick start to the game but could not overcome a huge performance by Martlets centre Alex Kiss-Rusk who scored 31 points and eight blocks in the win.
The Stingers came out in the first quarter with a lot of energy as they took a 7-2 lead in the early minutes. The Stingers did not look back as shooting guard Marie-Ève Martin hit two three-pointers in the quarter and added another layup to give the Stingers a 20-12 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was a showdown between Stingers forward Richelle Gregoire and Kiss-Rusk. Early in the quarter, the Martlets cut the Stingers lead to two after several baskets by Kiss-Rusk. The Stingers went on a 9-0 run to increase their lead to 27-23 at the midway point of the quarter after Gregoire scored five points. Gregoire ended up scoring nine points in the quarter. The Martlets climbed back into the game and led 35-34 at halftime due to an impressive performance by Kiss-Rusk who dropped 17 points in the quarter.
“I was really hyped about the game and everything was just falling for me tonight,” Kiss-Rusk said after the game. “The Stingers did not double much in the post which became a good situation for us.”
The Stingers led by Gregoire got the first points of the third quarter off of a pair of free-throws. That was the last time the Martlets trailed in the game. The Martlets regained their lead off of a three-pointer by forward Gabriela Hebert. The Martlets ended the quarter leading 61-49.
The Stingers got an early basket and free-throw by guard Latifah Roach to cut the Martlets lead to single-digits to start the fourth quarter. The Martlets replied with two baskets by guard Marika Guerin to push the Martlets lead back to double-digits which was the turning point in the game as the Martlets then went on an 8-0 run. The Stingers were never able to come back.
Stingers coach Tenicha Gittens said the team played well but let certain McGill players dominate the game.
“We did a good job in the beginning sticking to the game plan and making them rattled and uncomfortable,” said Gittens. “In the second half, we went away from the game plan and allowed [Kiss-Rusk] to get too comfortable.”
The women’s basketball season is now over for the Stingers and will start back up again in October.