REGULAR SEASON
| McGill | 15-1 | 25-4 | Ryan Thorne | ||
| UQAM | 11-5 | 13-10 | Albena Branzova-Dimitrova | ||
| Concordia | 7-9 | 14-14 | Keith Pruden | ||
| Laval | 7-9 | 17-15 | Sonia Ritchie | ||
| Bishop’s | 0-16 | 1-23 | Alex Perno | ||
On the eve of the
season, Linda Marquis stepped aside as head coach of Laval to become operations
coordinator, responsible for compliance with athletic eligibility rules and
educational support. “It’s like ripping choice, but I decided to think of
me. This is a new challenge that will be interesting and that goes with my
philosophy of always advocate the student athlete,” said Marquis. “The good
of the team is more important than anything right now,” added Marquis.
Director of sport Christian Gagnon said “I’ve known Linda long time and we all
know this is a great lady, honest and dedicated. I am very happy to see her
join the SAS team, “commented the Director of sport Christian Gagnon.
“I’m very happy for her, even though it must have been a difficult
decision to make. I’m excited because Linda has the skill, experience and
personality to succeed in this position. I have full confidence in his ability
to fulfill this new mandate.” Assistant Sonia Ritchie assumed the coaching
duties. Ritchie coached Sainte-Foy from 1992-2005, winning three provincial
titles and a pair of CCAA bronze medalists. Ritchie was also coach of the
Quebec team took third place in the Canada Games in 2001. Marquis was elected
twice coach of the year in Canada (2001 and 2000) in addition to receiving the
same honor seven times in Quebec (2010, 2009, 2007, 2001, 2000, 1992 and 1989).
Outside the court, she also received in 2002 the Medal of the Jubilee of the
Queen, an honor reserved for Canadians who have contributed to the betterment
of the community. She coached over 12 years with Canada Basketball and 31
years with Laval University. “Linda’s outstanding commitment to the game of
basketball is unheralded,” said Denise Dignard, Director of Women’s High
Performance. “She has proven to be successful on the international and
collegiate stage by working with us for a decade and winning over 500 games in
the CIS. Her legacy in Canadian basketball history is cemented.” The two-time
CIS Coach of the Year has coached a variety of teams including the Senior,
Development and Youth National Team. From 1997 to 2009, Linda started as
an Assistant Coach for the Senior Women’s National Team before working her way
up to higher coaching roles. In 2006, Linda was named the Youth National Team
Head Coach for two years then became the Head Coach for the Development
National Team in 2008 and 2009. She coached in the 2000 Olympics and countless
FISU and FIBA Americas events.
Playoff non-qualifier Bishop’s Gaiters: Edith Noblecilla, Marie-Laurence Dulude, Valerie Tremblay, Marie-Pascale Duhamel-Desautels, Naomie Zitt-James, Noemie Hamel-Petit, Eloisa Katz, Jenae Grayer, Genevieve Onyeka, Dani Lumley, Alex Ruscica, Mara Marchizotti, Joy-Celine Bermillo, Ashley White, Domunique Booker, Catherine Guay, coach Alex Perno, assistant Steve Cassivi, assistant Stephen Jalbert, athletic director Jean-Benoit Jubinville, SID Marty Rourke
In the semis, the top-seeded McGill Martlets clipped the 4th-seeded Laval Rouge et Or 70-57 on the strength of a double-double by Guinea product and two-time Quebec player of the year Mariam Sylla. “We were able to get some great inside play tonight,” said Martlets coach Ryan Thorne. “Sylla shot the ball well early but was also unselfish and found open perimeter players when defenders collapsed. “The Martlets broke to a 13-0 lead and extended the margin to 20-5 after one quarter. They led 32-13 at the half and 47-30 after three quarters. “It was a pretty complete game on our part and we played good inside-out basketball,” said Thorne. “Defensively we were on point. We made it tough for them to get easy scores and rotated well to shots… That’s what we pride ourselves on, good defence.” Laval assistant Linda Marquis said “essentially, it was a disastrous first quarter for us. We froze and they started aggressively, they were fast, very aggressive on defence and changed-up their style. We missed our shots. We calmed down a bit in the second quarter and executed better in the second half, winning the last two quarters.” Dianna Ros was chosen player of the game for the Martlets. “She’s a very good shooter, hasn’t had a great three-point shooting season this year but she’s definitely very competent and we trust in her a great deal and were very happy with the way she played,” said Thorne. “It was a pretty physical game, we were banged up a bit and Dianna had her nose hit again, so we weren’t too happy about that.” Raphaelle Cote was chosen player of the game for the Rouge et Or. Mariam Sylla paced the Martlets with 22 on 11-15 from the floor and 11 boards. Alexandria Kiss-Rusk added 11 on 4-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 2 boards and 2 blocks. Dianna Ros notched 10 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Gabriela Hebert added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 7 boards. Marika Guerin scored 7 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-6 from the line and 2 steals. Carolann Cloutier added 5 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 assists and 2 steals. Marie-Pier Bastrash added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Stephanie Blais added 3 on 1-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc, while Jennifer Silver, Marie-Love Michel and Tiye Traore were scoreless. Silver nabbed 5 boards, pilfered 2 balls and blocked 2 shots. The Martlets hit 25-58 (.431) from the floor, 6-13 (.462) from the arc and 14-17 (.824) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 11 steals, 5 blocks, 25 turnovers and 22 fouls. Jane Gagne paced the Rouge et Or with 11 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Raphaelle Cote added 11 on 3-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Gabrielle Girard notched 7 on 3-12 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Veronique Fortin-Tremblay added 6 on 1-3 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Genevieve Derome scored 6 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Claudia Emond added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 assists. Justine Guay-Bilodeau added 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Marilyn Bariault added 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 3 steals. Maripier Courchesne added 1 on 1-5 from the floor and 2 boards. Naomi Lavalee added 2 on 0-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Catherine Boulanger-Paquet and Rachel Blouin-Brochu were scoreless. Each nabbed 3 boards. The Rouge et Or hit 17-66 (.258) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 17-23 (.739) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 12 steals, 4 blocks, 22 turnovers and 21 fouls.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Universite du Quebec @ Montreal Citadins dumped the 3rd-seeded Concordia Stingers 54-47. The Stingers led 14-11 after one quarter and 25-23 at the half. The Citadins led 42-41 after three quarters. Jessica Lubin paced the Citadins with 21 on 9-15 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 20 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Claudia Riel added 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 5 boards. Lorna-Desrameaux-Simon added 8 on 4-10 from the floor and 6 boards. Janice Quintos scored 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 assists. Queteline Celestin added 7 on 2-12 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 7 boards and 8 assists. Sarah Cabana added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 3 boards, while Juliette Delaune, Bianca Marois and Alexane Anglehart were scoreless. Delaune and Marois each dished 2 assists. The Citadins hit 22-65 (.338) from the floor, 4-13 (.308) from the arc and 6-7 (.857) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 4 steals, 18 turnovers and 16 fouls. Kaylah Barrett paced the Stingers with 20 on 7-20 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 6-6 from the line and 2 boards. Marilyse Roy-Viau added 10 on 3-14 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Richelle Gregoire added 9 on 3-12 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 13 boards and 2 steals. Daphne Thouin added 6 on 2-8 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Tamara Pinard-Devos added 2 on 1-6 from the floor and 2 assists, while Aurelie d’Anjou-Drouin was scoreless and dished 2 assists. The Stingers hit 16-63 (.254) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 12-13 (.923) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 7 steals, 16 turnovers and 14 fouls.
In the final, the top-seeded McGill Martlets nipped the 2nd-seeded Universite du Quebec @ Montreal Citadins 53-51 to capture their four consecutive RSEQ title. League player of the year and player of the game Mariam Sylla gave the Martlets the lead with a bucket with 26 seconds and then added a free throw with 2 seconds on the clock to ice it. “It was pressure time but I knew that I could dominate inside,” said Sylla. “That’s a moment that every player lives for and I was very excited to help my team at that moment.” The Martlets led 12-9 after one quarter and 27-24 at the half. The Citadins led 38-37 after three quarters. They trailed 46-41 with just over six minutes to play but Sylla scored 8 of their 12 points down the stretch. She tied the game at 47-47 with 4:53 remaining and put McGill ahead 50-49 on a three-point play with 2:58 left. Jessica Lubin countered with a trey to give UQAM a 51-50 lead with 36 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Sylla’s final heroics. “Actually the play was to for me to look inside because they were having trouble defending me there throughout the game,” said Sylla. “If they double-teamed me, I was supposed to kick it outside to a shooter like Caro (Cloutier) or Dianna (Ros) but they didn’t defend me the way they did earlier, so I was wide open and just went for a lay-up.” McGill coach Ryan Thorne said “we went to our player of the year (when the game was on the line). The month of March is about players, it’s not about coaching. They know what to do and we went to a play that we usually run.” Thorne added that the Martlets were hurt by an ankle sprain suffered by Alexandria Kiss-Rusk in the first quarter. “With Alex going down, it changed the complexion of the game, changed where our strength probably was in the front court and the ability to keep just banging it inside. Their guards were amazing for UQAM, they put a lot of pressure on us which made it tough to make some entry passes but (our) girls grinded it out, believed in each other … They said that it was never over, even though we were down by about five or six late in the game and they fought to come back … We made some mistakes and I wasn’t happy with our game overall but was very proud that we kept fighting and never gave up. … It was very physical and that’s one of the things that concerns me about the RSEQ conference. “We allow too much physicality and I don’t think it sets us up very well for when we play at Nationals, where all of a sudden, everything is a touch foul. (The referees) called it one way early, then they stopped calling that type of game. Our opponents understood that and that’s why they left their player in with three early fouls … That part was a little disappointing but I was very happy that we pulled it out at the end.” Mariam Sylla paced the Martlets with 25 on 8-16 from the floor, 9-11 from the line, 14 boards and 2 steals. Gabriela Hebert added 9 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Marika Guerin added 9 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 3-4 from the line. Dianna Ros added 4 on 2-12 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 2 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals. Carolann Cloutier added 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 0-2 from the arc. Stephanie Blais added 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc. Marie-Love Michel added 2 on 1-2 from the floor, while Alexandria Kiss-Rusk, Jennifer Silver and Marie-Pier Bastrash were scoreless. Silver nabbed 10 boards, dished 2 assists and blocked 2 shot. Kiss-risk and Bastrash each nabbed 2 boards. The Martlets hit 19-57 (.333) from the floor, 1-15 (.067) from the arc and 14-21 from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 10 steals, 3 blocks, 18 turnovers and 14 fouls. Lorna Desrameaux-Simon paced the Citadins with 19 on 8-10 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Sarah Cabana added 9 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Queteline Celestin added 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Jessica Lubin scored 6 on 3-13 from the floor, 6 boards and 2 assists. Juliette Delaune added 5on 1-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-7 from the line and 2 steals. Janice Quintos added 2 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Bianca Marois scored 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 2 boards, while Alexane Anglehart was scoreless. The Citadins hit 21-61 (.344) from the floor, 1-10 from the arc and d8-15 (.533) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 9 steals, 1 block, 19 turnovers and 19 fouls.
After the season, Concordia turfed coach Keith Pruden after 20 years at the helm and a 299-305 record, including three RSEQ titles. “We’d like to thank Keith for his dedication and contribution to the Stingers women’s basketball program. We wish him the best in future endeavors,” says Patrick Boivin, director of Recreation and Athletics. “We believe it is time to move the program in a new direction.” Pruden had joined the Stingers from the University of Winnipeg where he was an assistant coach with the Wesmen for six seasons. While with the Wesmen, he won three consecutive national championships and five straight Great Plains conference titles. The Stingers had finished 7-9 in RSEQ play and 14-14 overall. Boivin appointed Tenicha Gittens as coach. “Her energy, passion for university basketball and approach to coaching and mentoring are exceptional and in line with our vision and goals for the Stingers. I truly believe she is the best person to lead this program and to take it to its full potential on and off the court. She brings all the right qualities to the job, including her commitment to academics, knowledge of the game and extensive recruiting experience.” Gittens, a former Dawson College player (1999-2002), played one year at Eastern Arizona Junior College before moving to Hofstra University. She eventually became an assistant at McGill and then director of basketball operations at LaSalle University in 2010, an assistant at St. Francis University in 2012 and then spent the past two years as the recruiting co-ordinator and assistant coach at Howard University. “Concordia is a great school and the RSEQ is a great conference,” said Gittens. “With Athletic Director Patrick Boivin’s vision for the department, these are exciting times. I’m blessed and excited to be a part of it.” Gittens selected Denburk Reid, Natasha Eadie and Sarah Gagné as assistants.
Laval selected Guillaume Giroux as its new head coach. “It really is a beautiful challenge,” said Giroux. “I’m excited to come to Quebec and bring a winning tradition to a historically very strong program.” Giroux led Montmorency to seven CCAA titles since assuming the Nomades helm in 1999. He also served as an assistant with McGill. “The experience at McGill and also at UQAM where I was deputy between 2007 and 2009 lets me know what I was getting into. I know the network, the league and the team. I directed some of the girls from Laval with Quebec teams. We have a good nucleus of student-athletes proud that I look forward to working.” Director of Athletics Christian Gagnon said “we are very pleased to add Guillaume Giroux our excellent group of coaches Rouge et Or program. As an amateur basketball, I’m excited to see a coach who has won everywhere he went take the reins of our women’s team. It has large shoes to put on, but we are confident that he will rise to the challenge.
The co-bronze medalist Concordia Stingers: Kaylah Barrett; Tamara Pinard-Devos; Daphne Thouin; Marilyse Roy-Viau; Aurelie d’Anjou Drouin; Maria Kaperonis; Richelle Gregoire; Salimata Diarra; Jessy Berbari; coach Keith Pruden; assistant Carol-Ann Tull; therapist Sean Christensen; student therapist Sabrina Lafrance; athletic director Patrick Boivin; SID Catherine Grace
The co-bronze medalist Laval Rouge et Or: Marilyn Bariault; Rachel Blouin-Brochu; Catherine Belanger-Paquet; Maripier Courchesne; Raphaelle Cote; Genevieve Derome; Claudia Emond; Veronique Fortin-Tremblay; Jane Gagne; Gabrielle Girard; Justine Guay-Bilodeau; Naomi Lavalee; Sarah-Jane Marois; interim coach Sonia Ritchie; assistant Linda Marquis; assistant Monique Parent; assistant Gilles Marquis; athletic director Christian Gagnon; SID Luc Lamontagne
The silver medalist Universite du Quebec @ Montreal Citadins: Bianca Marois; Claudia Riel; Fanny Chiecchio; Sarah Cabana; Michele Audet; Janice Quintos; Queteline Celestin; Alexane Anglehart; Lorna Desrameaux-Simon; Jessica Lubin; Carmen Djssou; Juliete Delaune; coach Albena Branzova; assistant Vladimir Dimitrov; assistant Mireille Karangwa; assistant Louis Couture; therapist Athanasio Destounis; therapist Maxime Beaudin; athletic director Daniel Methot; SID Veronique Laberge
The champion McGill Redmen: Mariam Sylla; Dianna Ros; Sarah Choong; Carolann Cloutier; Marika Guerin; Marie-Love Michel; Caren-Carissa Tapia; Tiye Traore; Stephanie Blais; Gabriela Hebert; Jennifer Silver; Alex Kiss-Rusk; coach Ryan Thorne; assistant Helen Magdalinos; assistant Rikki Bowles; assistant Guillaume Giroux; manager Emilija Davidovic; physician Dr. Andrea Dolan; therapist Phedavril Racine; student therapist Caroline Guay; student therapist Rachelle Leclerc; student therapist Moeen Shaikh; student therapist Michelle Bennett; student therapist Henry Park; student therapist Henry Zhao; athletic director Drew Love; SID Earl Zuckerman