Martlets go quietly as Stingers carry big stick
By Earl Zukerman
MONTREAL – Senior Nathifa Weekes of Brossard, Que., pulled off a
“double-double” but Concordia utilized a deeper bench and seized
the moment as McGill ran out of gas and succumbed 68-54 in a
do-or-die women’s basketball game at the Loyola campus gym,
Saturday.
The Stingers swept their weekend series with the Martlets to force
a deadlock in the Quebec league standings. Both teams finished with
identical 5-11 records but Concordia claimed the final playoff
berth by winning three of the four regular season meetings against
McGill.
Weekes scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds before fouling out
along with teammate Elise Lépine. Freshman Marie-Pier Brabant of
Granby, Que., and Stephanie Bergeron of Montreal added 11 and 10,
respectively, but it was all for naught.
McGill’s fate, however, was really sealed on the last day of
January, when league scoring leader Anneth Him-Lazarenko, a
5-foot-10 forward who won conference rookie-of-the-year honours,
went down with torn knee ligaments in a game at UQAM. It put a
damper on a promising stretch, where the team had appeared to turn
the corner and had won four of five games. Since the injury,
however the McGill women went on a four-game slide to close out the
season.
The lone bright spot on a disappointing end to the season was that
the Martlets are not expecting to lose any of their veterans for
next year.
Anne-Marie Prophete led the Stingers attack with 13 points, while
Krystle Douglas, Kristin Portwine and Melissa Campbell added 12, 12
and 11 respectively.
Concordia, which led 15-13 after one quarter, 32-28 at the half and
54-42, will now advance to the conference’s sudden-death semifinal
game, slated for Feb. 25 in Quebec City.
Newspaper Box Score
(21/02/09 1830 at concordia gym)
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY 68, MCGILL MARTLETS 54
MCGILL MARTLETS
Nathifa Weekes 6-11 5-6 17; Marie-Pier Brabant 4-7 0-0 11;
Stephanie Bergeron 4-15 0-0 10; Jennifer OBrien 1-2 2-2 4; Shavern
Weekes 0-1 4-4 4; Caroline Herbert 1-9 2-2 4; Elise Lepine 2-8 0-0
4; Aurelle Lauzier-Hudon 0-1 0-3 0; Rikki Bowles 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 18-55 13-17 54.
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
Anne-Marie Prophete 4-8 5-6 13; Krystle Douglas 4-11 3-3 12;
Kristin Portwine 6-8 0-0 12; Melissa Campbell 4-11 2-2 11; Felon
Harris 3-4 1-2 8; Kendra Carrie 2-6 0-0 4; Yasmin Jean-Philippe 0-7
4-4 4; Andreanne G-Boudreau 0-1 4-4 4; Magalie Beaulieu 0-2 0-0 0;
Nekeita Lee 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 23-61 19-21 68.
McGill Martlets................ 13 15 14 12 -- 54
Concordia Univ............... 15 17 22 14 -- 68
3-point goals-
McGill 5-14 (Marie-Pier Brabant 3-5; Stephanie Bergeron 2-3;
Caroline Herbert 0-1; Elise Lepine 0-2; Aurelle Lauzier-Hudon 0-1;
Rikki Bowles 0-1; Nathifa Weekes 0-1),
Concordia 3-19 (Felon Harris 1-2; Krystle Douglas 1-4; Melissa
Campbell 1-5; Yasmin Jean-Philippe 0-3; Andreanne G-Boudreau 0-1;
Magalie Beaulieu 0-1; Nekeita Lee 0-1; Kendra Carrie 0-2).
Fouled out--
McGill - Elise Lepine; Nathifa Weekes,
Concordia -None.
Rebounds-
McGill 39 (Nathifa Weekes 12),
Concordia 28 (Kendra Carrie 8).
Assists-
McGill 6 (Caroline Herbert 2; Marie-Pier Brabant 2),
Concordia 12 (Melissa Campbell 3).
Total fouls-
McGill 15,
Concordia 12.