Stingers Sweep Rouge et Or

SportsJulian McKenzie — Published January 19, 2014 | Updated January 20, 2014 at 1:18am

While the Stingers could not replicate another blowout over Laval, they still left the court with the same result as Thursday night—a win.

The Stingers started off slow, but were still able to hold off Laval, winning 58-50 and sweeping a home and home series. Marilyse Roy-Viau led all players in points, scoring 18 and grabbing seven rebounds. Concordia have now won four of their last five league games.

“We blew them out pretty bad [on Thursday] so we knew they were going to come hungry,” said point guard Ashley Clarke, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in Saturday’s contest.

The Stingers only scored eight points in the opening quarter. Fortunately for them, Laval only responded with seven. Soon after, both teams kept it close, with no lead by either team being bigger than five points until late in the fourth quarter, in contrast to last Thursday night’s encounter, where the Stingers ran away with the lead from the first basket.

Overshadowing the win, however, was a bizarre incident near the end of the fourth quarter, where Stingers forward Serginha Estime emerged from a scramble with a Laval player with the ball, while the Laval player claimed Estime bit her, yelling to the referees. Estime was assessed a foul, but not a technical, yet was ejected with over 3 minutes to play in the fourth.

When asked about it, Estime denied biting the player, while Stingers’ head coach Keith Pruden wasn’t aware it had happened. Pruden said he was “disappointed” that Estime got ejected, but wasn’t overly concerned about not having Estime on the floor, replacing her with Tina Mpondani.

Pruden acknowledged his team’s errors, and knew that Laval would play to erase the embarrassment of Thursday night, yet credited his own team for getting the job done.

“In the second half, we showed a great deal of composure,” Pruden said. “We showed a great deal of competitiveness and we found a way to win the game.

“That’s the mark of a team that can win a championship. You find a way to win, even when you’re not playing well, and we did not play well.”

The Stingers’ next challenge is a home and home series against their rival, and league-leading McGill Martlets, starting next Thursday at home, before playing at McGill on Saturday.