Stingers split against the Citadins

The women’s team now has a record of 1-2. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

Concordia’s men’s basketball team won against UQAM following a loss by the women’s team

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team lost to the Université de Québec à Montréal Citadins on Nov. 19 by a score of 74-63. Just a few minutes later, the men’s team took to the court and defeated the Citadins, 79-72.

Women’s Game:

Even though the Stingers made it a close game at the end, the Citadins dominated in their win.

With the win, the Citadins improved their record to 3-0, thanks to contributions from their veterans Quételine Célestin and Jessica Lubin.

“Célestin is a fifth year player. She knows how to use her speed and her strength when there is a mismatch,” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “We didn’t make it tough on her.”

Célestin finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, while also going 10-12 from the free throw line. On defense, Célestin was matched up with Stingers guard Richelle Grégoire. Célestin held Grégoire’s shooting to 3-13 from the field. Grégoire also committed six turnovers.

“[Grégoire] had a tough matchup. She was guarding Célestin for the majority of the game,” Gittens said. “You exert a lot of energy guarding Célestin, so sometimes it takes away from what you’re able to do offensively.”

Both teams struggled in the first quarter, with the score ending at 15-12 in favor of the Citadins. At the half, the Citadins were up by six, with a score of 42-36. The Stingers kept the game close but got into penalty trouble which allowed the Citadins to score.

Eventually, the lack of discipline hurt the Stingers and their opponents jumped to a double-digit lead early in the third quarter. The Citadins were able to capitalize on the Stingers’ turnover to increase their lead even further.

“When we can’t score, we tend to panic a little,” said Stingers veteran Marilyse Roy-Viau. “They scored six quick buckets and we kind of let down.”

Roy-Viau led the Stingers, scoring a game-high 23 points.

Men’s Game:

The Stingers were in a close battle with the Citadins throughout the game. They were up by one point with two minutes left when Stingers forward Ken Beaulieu took matters into his own hands and scored a three-pointer that sealed the team’s win.

“That’s a shot I have a lot of confidence in, that’s why I took it,” Beaulieu said.

The men’s team now has a record of 2-1.

The game was intense from the beginning, as both teams went back and forth exchanging leads. The Citadins would be the ones to come out on top in the first quarter a 19-18 lead.

In the second quarter, the Stingers came out firing and were able to take the lead back. They went into half-time with a 40-36 lead.

In the second half, Citadins head coach Nate Philippe changed his team’s system, which led to a slower pace in the game. Both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter, making the score 56-52, in favour of the Stingers heading into the final frame.

“We practice against [their system] every day because we know it’s going to happen,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic. “Down the stretch, we figured it out and got a bunch of open [shots].”

Despite the Stingers only making 41.7 per cent of their shots, the team was able to score 16 points off of turnovers. They also scored 21 points off of second chance opportunities. Those little details proved to be the difference in a game that saw 17 lead changes.

“I thought we did some very good things. We competed hard,” Popovic said. “It’s a great win. We showed a lot of toughness out there tonight.”

Both Stingers basketball teams will now take on the McGill Redmen and Martlets on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

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