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Kiss-Rusk leads McGill to Canadian women's university basketball championship

Kiss-Rusk leads McGill to women's title

VICTORIA — Alex Kiss-Rusk had 15 points and 20 rebounds to lead the McGill Martlets past the Laval Rouge et Or 66-55 on Sunday to win the Canadian university women's basketball championship.

It's the first time that two teams from Quebec had faced each other for the title.

"Our slogan this year was 'Together we rise' and now we have risen to the top, with a U Sports national championship," said Martlets head coach Ryan Thorne.

Kiss-Rusk was named both the Championship MVP and Player of the Game for McGill after her dominating performance.

"She was the MVP of our team and she brought that with her to this situation so this was definitely a great opportunity for her," said Thorne.

Marika Guerin scored 14 points and Jennifer Silver added 10 with seven rebounds for McGill.

Jane Gagne led Laval with 13 points.

Earlier, the No. 1 Carleton Ravens defeated the Queen's Gaels 53-43 to claim bronze in Victoria.

It was a rematch of the OUA Final for the two teams after the Ravens downed the Gaels by a score of 49-41 in front of a sell-out crowd of 1,904 in Kingston, Ont.

"It was a very tough environment out there," said Carleton head coach Taffe Charles. "They were looking to get an upset and they played very well. They tested us, they changed things up on us and they were a desperate team."

Carleton outscored Queen's 18-8 in the first quarter before struggling with just 16 points through the second and third quarters. But the Ravens found their offence again in the fourth quarter, putting up 19 points while holding the Gaels to seven.

Catherine Traer was named Player of the Game for Carleton after scoring a game-high 18 points on 8-for-18 shooting to go with five rebounds and two assists.

The Canadian Press