QF 3: 2017 ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS Women’s Final 8 McGill books trip to semifinals with victory over Regina

Home QF 3: 2017 ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS Women’s Final 8 McGill books trip to semifinals with victory over Regina

U SPORTS – VICTORIA (U SPORTS) – The McGill Martlets advanced to the ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS Women’s Final 8 semifinals on Wednesday night with a 72-62 victory over a resilient Regina Cougars team at the CARSA Performance Gym in Victoria.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/wbkb/index

McGill, seeded fourth after winning the RSEQ championship, came in as the higher-ranked team, although the fifth-seeded Cougars gave them all they could handle. The teams entered the second quarter tied at 16, before the Martlets stole the edge in the second quarter, outscoring Regina 20-14 on 61.5 per cent shooting.

“The girls worked hard,” said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne. “What was really important for us was our rotation defence…our ball-screen defence. Offensively we had an advantage with Alex (Kiss-Rusk), so we pounded it in there when we could and when they double-teamed her, we found some open shooters and shot the ball well.”

The Cougars got within three points in the fourth quarter after entering the final frame down 49-40 but couldn’t overcome the hot-shooting Martlets.

“They hit the three really well tonight,” said Regina coach Dave Taylor. “If they are going to do that they are going to be tough to beat. I didn’t think we played terrible defence, they just hit shots.”

Rookie guard Frederique Potvin led McGill with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field, knocking down four threes, while third-year point guard Marika Guerin, fourth-year centre Alex Kiss-Rusk and fourth-year forward Jennifer Silver each had 12 points for the Martlets.

Kiss-Rusk added 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double, earning her Player of the Game honours for the Martlets. The performance was nothing new from the Beaconsfield, Que., native, who led McGill in scoring with 14.1 points per game this season.

Fifth-year guard Katie Polischuk was named Player of the Game for the Cougars after knocking down a team-high 17 points on 7-for-19 shooting. Michaela Kleisinger had nine points for the Cougars and added six rebounds to round out a strong game.

“I was proud of (Polischuk) because she was struggling from three and that’s where she normally scores from,” said Taylor. “She found other ways to score when we needed it.”

McGill will meet the winner of UVic and Carleton in the second semifinal on Saturday, set for 4:00 p.m. PST, while Regina will player the loser of that game at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night.

STAT LEADERS

Official Boxscore: http://en.usports.ca/championships/wbkb/2017/championship

REG: 16-14-10-22: 62

MCG: 16-20-13-23: 72

Regina Cougars

Points: Katie Polischuk (17), Michaela Kleisinger (9), Kyanna Giles (8)

Rebounds: Michaela Kleisinger (6)

Assists: Christina McCusker (2), Katie Polischuk (2), Sara Hubenig (2)

Player of the game: #3 Katie Polischuk

McGill Martlets

Points: Frederique Potvin (20), Alex Kiss-Rusk (12), Marika Guerin (12), Jennifer Silver (12)

Rebounds: Alex Kiss-Rusk (11), Frederique Potvin (7)

Assists: Alex Kiss-Rusk (6), Frederique Potvin (5)

Player of the game: #21 Alex Kiss-Rusk

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times PT)

Thursday, March 9

12:00 p.m. Quarter-final 1: No.3 Queen’s (60) vs. No. 6 Cape Breton (51) (USPORTS.LIVE)

2:00 p.m. Quarter-final 2: No. 2 Saskatchewan (59) vs. No. 7 Laval (69) (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. Quarter-final 3: No. 4 McGill (72) vs. No. 5 Regina (62) (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Quarter-final 4: No. 1 Carleton vs. No. 8 Victoria (USPORTS.LIVE)

Friday, March 10

6:00 p.m. Consolation 1: Cape Breton vs. Saskatchewan (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Consolation 2: Regina vs. Loser QF 4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 11

2:00 p.m. Semifinal 1: Queen’s vs. Laval (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)

4:00 p.m. Semifinal 2: McGill vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)

7:00 p.m. 5th-place game (USPORTS.LIVE)

Sunday, March 12

10:00 a.m. Bronze (USPORTS.LIVE)

1:00 p.m. Final (Sportsnet 360/SN Now)

About U SPORTS

U SPORTS is the national brand for University Sports in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. U SPORTS also provides higher performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit usports.ca or follow us on:

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For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

ksainteloy@usports.ca

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS