Rookie LĂ©pine shines as Martlets get Gaiters
==============================
Rookie Elise LĂ©pine tallied 20 points as Martlets beat bishop's
64-60 in QUBL season opener. PHOTO BY: Andrew Dobrowolskyj
==============================
MONTREAL – Elise Lépine, an 18-year-old freshman from Mission,
B.C., scored 20 points as McGill rallied to defeat Bishop’s 64-60
in the Quebec University Basketball League season-opener before a
near-capacity crowd of 712 at Love Competition Hall, Friday.
LĂ©pine, a 5-foot-11 forward, made 8-of-13 shots from the field,
including a 3-for-5 performance from three-point range. She also
grabbed five rebounds and was credited with a game-high four steals
in a team-leading 33 minutes of court-time.
Katy Germain, a third-year guard from Val d’Or, Que., scored 27
points in a losing cause during the “Pink Ribbon Game”, which
served as fundraiser for breast cancer.
McGill led 18-15 after the opening quarter and 37-31 at the half
but the Gaiters roared back to go ahead by six late in the third
stanza and led 48-46 heading into the final quarter.
The Martlets tied the game at 52-52 three minutes into the fourth,
and never trailed from that point. The last of Germain’s seven
three-pointers tied the game at 60 with 2:45 remaining, but
McGill’s Aurelie Lauzier-Hudon responded immediately to put the
Martlets back up by two. Trailing 63-60 with under 30 seconds to
go, the Gaiters had the ball but were unable to generate a shot
before an offensive foul gave the Martlets the ball with 16 seconds
left.
Freshman Anneth Him-Lazarenko of Ste. Dorothée, Que., contributed
14 points and led the Martlets in rebounding with seven. It marked
the 10th straight game that the 5-foot-10 forward out of Vanier
College had reached double figures in scoring, counting nine
preseason contests. She shot 5-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-5
from the charity stripe.
McGill’s other leading marksmen included Lauzier-Hudon, from St.
Jean sur Richelieu, Que., and Nathifa Weekes of Brossard, Que.,
with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Laure Pitfield of Ottawa, was the only other Gaiter in
double-figures, with 10 points, while MĂ©lanie Ouellet-Godcharles of
Gatineau, Que. scored eight. Amanda Piribauer of Kingston, Ont.,
grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and scored six points before
fouling out.
The Martlets shot 40.7 per cent from the field (24/59), 36.4 from
beyond the arc (8/22) and 57.1 from the line (8/14), compared to
Bishop’s, who shot 36.8, 40.9 and 50.0, respectively.
The two teams play the second of a home-and-home series in
Lennoxville, Saturday at 8 p.m.