Gaiters and Stingers rivalry set for round three

The Bishop’s Gaiters men’s and women’s basketball teams will host the Concordia Stingers in Mitchell Gymnasium on Friday, February 7 in the annual winter homecoming game. It will also be senior’s night as the women tipoff at 6 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m. The women’s hockey team is on the road this weekend for their third MIWHL tournament of the year. They travel to Fredericton.
The Bishop’s Gaiters women’s basketball team has officially been eliminated from playoff contention after a loss on Saturday night in Montreal to UQAM. They sit at 0-12 and will look to play spoiler as the league leading the Concordia Stingers (8-4) are in town. Concordia has beaten the Gaiters on two occasions this year. They won 63-42 as the Gaiters opened their season in Lennoxville in November and 62-54 when the teams met in Montreal in January.
Unquestionably the Gaiters have been led by Gabrielle Chamberland (Sherbrooke, Quebec) who sits in fifth place in the RSEQ in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game. She is coming off back-to-back games where she scored 20 and 24 points respectively. The performances earner her Provigo Robert Lafond Bishop’s Athlete of the Week honours.
The Stingers are in a hotly contested battle at the top of the standings as McGill (8-3) plays Laval (5-6) on Thursday night and UQAM (8-4) on Saturday. Concordia is led by Kaylah Barrett (Brampton, Ontario) who is second in league scoring averaging 16.1 points per game. She is also, second in steals (2.3 per game), third in free throw percentage (81.8 percent) and eighth in rebounding (5.1 per game).
The Bishop’s men (8-4) currently sit in top position in the RSEQ. They are one win up on the McGill Redmen (7-4) who will play a pair of games in the next three days and a full game up on the Stingers (7-5). Bishop’s will look to avenge a pair of losses they’ve suffered to the Stingers so far this season. They opened the campaign with a heartbreaking 77-76 loss in Mitchell Gymnasium in November and fell 82-68 to Concordia in Montreal in January.
Bishop’s has been led by Mike Andrews (Oakville, Ontario). The team’s sixth man currently sits fourth in the RSEQ in scoring. He is averaging 14.3 points per game. He is also seventh in rebounding (6.3 per game) and tops in blocked shots (2.1 per game). Bishop’s point guard Scott Ring (Ottawa) has also been a factor for the Gaiters as he is second in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), third in steals (2.0 per game), third in assists (3.3 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (49.3 percent) and tenth in minutes played (30.2 per game).
Concordia received a major boost when Kyle Desmarais (Montreal) returned to their lineup after Christmas. He has vaulted to the league lead in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game. He also chips in with 3.3 assists per game and a league leading 3.7 steals per game.
The Bishop’s Gaiters basketball squads will step into Mitchell Gymnasium on Friday night as the Concordia Stingers are in town on winter homecoming and senior’s night. The women tipoff at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m. There will be a ceremony prior to the men’s game to honour the three graduating Gaiters. Both games will be webcast live on SSN Canada.
Webcasts
Women’s Game: http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/5083/
Men’s Game: http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/5084/