SHERBROOKE, Que. – The Bishop's Gaiters women's basketball team will look to get back on track this week as they face the No. 10-ranked Concordia Stingers in a home-and-home series. The Gaiters are 2-5 in league play, in a virtual tie with UQAM for the fourth and final RSEQ playoff spot. The Stingers sit a 3-3 and are 1.5 games ahead of the Gaiters and tied for second place. The teams square of Thursday in Montreal and Saturday at the Mitchell Gym in Lennoxville. Both games tip off at 6 p.m.
 
 
One game at a time is what Bishop's Gaiters head coach Craig Norman is stressing to his team on the eve of the front end of a home-and-home weekend series with the UQAM Citadins. At 2-3, Bishop's sits four points ahead UQAM for the final RSEQ playoff spot.  The teams will play their second and third match-ups of the year, Thursday in Montreal at 6 p.m. and Saturday in Lennoxville at 6 p.m.
 
Last time out:
Bishop's (9-8, 2-5 RSEQ) was swept by UQAM in their home-and-home series last week. On Thursday in Montreal, the Gaiters fell 59-42, despite a double-double by Mara Marchizotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina/). In Sunday's rematch, the Citadins pulled away in the third quarter to win 74-67. In that game, Marie-Evrardine Berrouette (Montreal, Que./Dawson College) had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Gaiters while Jessica Lubin led UQAM with 23 points and 11 boards.
 
Concordia (9-4, 3-3 RSEQ) was swept by McGill last week, losing 70-55 at home on Thursday and 63-51 in Saturday's return match. Aurélie D'Anjou Drouin led the Stingers with 19 points over the two games. She was the only Concordia player in double figures in the first game.

When last we met:
The Stingers used a strong second quarter to pick up 82-59 win over the Gaiters on Nov. 9 at the Concordia Gym. Concordia outscored the Gaiters 26-4 in the second period to break the game open and take a 45-22 halftime lead. Maeve Dinalle led the Gaiters with 16 points and was the only Gaiter in double figures. D'Anjou Drouin led Concordia with 30 points, while Caroline Task added 26 and Jazlin Barker chipped in with 13.
 
Leading Ladies
Bishop's
Mara Marchizotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina/) has moved into the top 10 on the conference scoring list, with her 11.6 points per game good for 8^th place. She is also the third-best rebounder in the loop (8.4 per game). Her 1.6 blocks per game place her second in the province, and seventh overall in Canada.
Marie-Evrardine Berrouette (Montreal, Que./Dawson College) is sixth in the conference in rebounding, with 7.1 per game, and fourth in steals (1.9 per game). She has also moved up to third in field goal percentage (0.4670).
Edith Noblecilla (Guayaquil, Ecuador/Santo Domingo de Guzmain) leads the conference with 4.4 assists per game, and is currently fifth in Canada.
 
Concordia
Caroline Task is the conference's leading scorer, with 19.5 points per game. She is shooting 38.5 per cent from the three-point line (second in the conference), and her 0.868 free-throw percentage is second in the league.
Aurélie d'Anjou Drouin is fifth on the RSEQ scoring list, with 13.2 points per game. She is shooting a league-leading 43.5 per cent from three-point range and is fifth in the circuit with a 0.455 field goal percentage.
Ashley Moss is the Stingers' leading rebounder, averaging 7.7 rebounds per game (fifth in the RSEQ), and is the league's leading shot blocker, averaging 1.7 rejections per contect.
 
Stand-Up
With only two games separating second and fifth place in the RSEQ, the Gaiters will be looking to cause a logjam in the middle of the league standings. The Stingers are second at 3-3, in a virtual tie with Laval, who is 3-2. The Gaiters, meanwhile, are 2-5, and tied with UQAM (2-6) for fourth place. McGill, who is idle this week, sits in first place with a 7-1 mark.
 
Keep your E-Y-E on M-E-B:
Rookie forward Marie-Evrardine Berrouette (Montreal, Que./Dawson College) has quickly made her mark in the RSEQ. The Dawson College grad grabbed 11 rebounds and scored nine points in her first-ever league game, on Nov. 4 against UQAM. Since then, she has scored in double figures three times, and recorded her first career double-double on Sunday, when she scored 11 points and matched her career high with 14 rebounds. She leads all rookies in the league in rebounding, with 7.1 per game, and is averaging 9.0 points per game this year.
 
Save the dates:
A makeup date has been determined for the Gaiters' game against Laval, which was postponed back on Jan. 5. That game will now be played on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Quebec City, with tip off set for 1 p.m. As a result, the Gaiters home game that weekend, which was set for Saturday, Feb. 10, has been moved to Tuesday, Feb. 13. Tip-off for that game remains at 6 p.m.
 
Coach's Corner
"They're a lot like UQAM. I feel like the Montreal schools in particular try to bully us, and I would, too. We haven't learned to deal with the physical play. The last time we played Concordia they absolutely ambushed us, down in the Concordia Gym, and we don't have time to lick our wounds. It's a quick turnaround and maybe that's what we need. But we look forward to the challenge.
 
Tickets Get your Tickets!
Tickets to Saturday night's doubleheader are available online at www.gaiters.ca/tickets or game day at the ticket booth located next to the entrance to Mitchell Gym
Live Look
Watch Thursday night's game on Concordia's stream at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cumo/
Watch Saturday's game from Mitchell Gym at: www.gaiters.ca/webcast
Next Up
After the home-and-home with the Stingers, the Gaiters will take on the league-leading McGill Martlets in a home-and-home series. The teams will play on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Mitchell Gym, starting at 6 p.m., with the return match the next day in Montreal, starting at 4 pm.
 
Social Corner
Stay up-to-date with everything Bishop's Gaiters at www.gaiters.ca or on social media using @BishopsGaiters and #GaiterNation.