SHERBROOKE, Que. – The Bishop's Gaiters women's basketball team will close out the 2016-17 season this week, as they host the Concordia Stingers on Wednesday night at the Mitchell Gym, and visit the UQAM Citadins on Saturday evening in Montreal. Wednesday's game is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff, while Saturday's will get underway at 5 p.m.
 
The Gaiters (7-14, 2-12 RSEQ) dropped their only game last week, 73-50 to the McGill Martlets in Montreal on Saturday afternoon, a game in which the Martlets got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Gaiters have lost four straight, dating back to a 76-66 win over the Stingers on Jan. 28. While the Gaiters are themselves eliminated from the RSEQ playoff picture, they could still play spoiler for the Stingers and Citadins. Concordia (13-11, 6-8 RSEQ) and UQAM (13-11, 7-8 RSEQ) are in a three-way battle with McGill (17-9, 8-7 RSEQ) for second and third place in the conference — and the right to avoid top-ranked Laval (23-2, 13-1 RSEQ) in the league semi-finals.
 
Concordia come in to Wednesday's contest having won two straight games, most recently a 58-53 squeaker over the McGill Marlets last Thursday. The Gaiters and Stingers have crossed swords three times this year, with the home team winning each time. Their last meeting was a 76-66 Gaiter win on Jan. 28 at the Mitchell Gym. The Stingers boast two of the top three scorers in Quebec, with Richelle Gregoire averaging 16.7 points per game and Marilyse Roy-Viau scoring 14.9.
 
UQAM, meanwhile, head into Saturday's contest on a five-game losing streak. Their last victory was a 52-51 squeaker over the Gaiters in Montreal on Jan. 21. UQAM has taken all three head-to-head meetings so far this year, but two of them were one-point games. Their offence is led by Jessica Lubin, who at 16.6 points per game is second on the conference scoring list.
 
For the Gaiters, fourth-year point guard Edith Noblecilla (Guayaquil, Ecuador/Santo Domingo de Guzmain) continues to sit second in Canada with 4.7 assists per game, trailing only Jerika Baldin of Lakehead, who finished with 6.8 assists per game. Noblecilla has 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Gaiters' leading scorer and rebounder remains Mara Marchizotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina), who is ninth in the conference with 11.8 points per game and fourth in the loop with 7.4 boards per game. Sophomore Ashley Milhomme (Repentigny, Que. /Collège Montmorency) is 12th in Quebec with 10.4 points per game.
 
Wednesday's game will be webcast at www.gaiters.ca/webcast, while Saturday's will be available at www.tvgo.ca/uqam/.