SHERBROOKE - The Bishop's Gaiters women's basketball team picked up their first conference win of the season in emphatic fashion, cruising to a 62-40 victory over the five-time defending league champion McGill Martlets at the Mitchell Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Gaiters came out firing, opening up an 11-3 lead and they never trailed.
 
Bishop's (6-5, 1-3 RSEQ) led 25-12 after the first quarter, and 40-20 at halftime. McGill (10-5, 1-3 RSEQ) did have a 13-7 edge in the third quarter, but could not cut the deficit to fewer than 15 points. The Gaiters were led by their defence, as they held McGill to only 28 per cent shooting, and forced 16 Martlet turnovers. Bishop's meanwhile, shot 38% from the field overall, and went 8-for-17 from three-point range.
 
"I'm extremely pleased with the effort the girls put forth, I'm so happy for them. They focused in for 40 minutes," said Gaiters head coach Craig Norman.
 
"We had a couple of bad stretches, but I'm so happy for girls like Edith [Noblecilla] and Mara [Marchizotti] who have been through so much here. It's huge for the program, and we absolutely needed that win before Christmas time."
 


Maude Archambault (Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que. /Collège Montmorency) came off the bench to lead the Gaiters with 19 points, including four three-pointers. The only other Gaiter in double figures was Marchizotti, who had 14 points. Noëmie Hamel-Petit led the Gaiters on the boards, with nine. Overall, the Gaiters outrebounded McGill 46-39.
 
Noblecilla, the Gaiters' veteran point guard, was limited to six points and five rebounds, as she ran into foul trouble in the third quarter, leaving the game with four fouls midway through the period. She came back into the game early in the fourth, but a loose ball foul call midway through the period was her fifth, leaving the Gaiters without their talisman for the stretch run.
 
Norman's message to his team at that point was simple. "Let's just suck it up and drive this ship into shore," he said. "Those are the type of things that this team needs to overcome to get to the next level and I was pleased with the way we fought through."
 
McGill was led by Alexandra Kiss-Rusk, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. Jennifer Silver added seven for the No. 8-ranked Martlets, losers of four of their past five games overall.
 
The Gaiters now head into their annual exam and Christmas break, returning to action on Jan. 13, 2017.