SHERBROOKE, Que. – There were 22 lead changes and 13 ties before the Bishop's Gaiters women's basketball team was able hold off the Concordia Stingers 76-66 on Saturday night in Mitchell Gym.  Five Gaiters scored in double figures paced by Maude Archambault (Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que. /Collège Montmorency)'s 18 points as Bishop's kept their RSEQ University playoff hopes alive and earned their second victory of the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Through 20 minutes there was virtually no separation between the teams that were playing the back end of a home-and-home.  Concordia topped the Gaiters 57-42 in Montreal on Thursday.
 
On Saturday, the score was locked 13-13 after the first quarter and both teams netted 20 in the second stanza for a 33-33 halftime tie. Bishop's fired 13-34 from the field in the half while Concordia was 14-34.
 
Bishop's (7-10, 2-8 RSEQ) won the third quarter 16-15 and backed it up with one of their best performances of the year in the fourth. They scored 27 points and allowed just 18 to earn the 76-66 victory.  The win moves them within four points in the conference standings of both the Stingers (11-9, 4-6 RSEQ) and the McGill Martlets (15-8, 4-6 RSEQ).  The Gaiters and Martlets hook up for a home and home series starting next Thursday.
 
"We were more focused and executed tremendously tonight," Gaiters bench boss Craig Norman. "We made some adjustments from Thursday and did a lot of film work in the last two days and that was big for us. When you have five players in double figures it's huge. It was a great team effort."
 
The Gaiters were 28-66 (41.8 per cent) from the floor including 10-30 (33.3 per cent) from three point land while Concordia shot 26-69 (37.7 per cent) and 4-14 (28.6 percent) from deep range. The Stingers were able to score 27 points off of Bishop's 20 turnovers while the Gaiters out-rebounded Concordia 44-37.
 
Archambault finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists.  She was 4-10 from behind the arc including arguably her biggest three with 3:16 remaining to extend the Gaiters lead to nine. Floor general Edith Noblecilla (Guayaquil, Ecuador/Santo Domingo de Guzmain) scored 17 points and added nine assists and two steals.  She also scored a pair of big buckets down the stretch to secure the victory. Off the bench Maeva Dinalle (Paris, France) scored 13 points and was a perfect 3-3 from downtown.  Ashley Milhomme (Repentigny, Que. /Collège Montmorency) and Mara Marchizotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina) chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively. 
 
On the Stingers side Marilyse Roy-Viau (Mirabel, Que) led all scorers with 24 points and Richelle Gregoire (Ste. Therese, Que) scored 12.
 
The Stingers will host No. 1 Laval (21-2, 9-1 RSEQ) on Thursday and the two will play in Quebec City on Saturday.
 
Bishop's will travel to Montreal to face the McGill Martlets on Thursday in Montreal at 6 p.m. and host McGill in the back end of the home-and-home on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. in Mitchell Gym.
 
Stay up to date with everything Bishop's Gaiters at www.gaiters.ca or on social media using @BishopsGaiters.
 
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