The Concordia Stingers basketball teams will move home base to the east end of Montreal at the end of the week where they will take part in the RSEQ Final 4 championship tournament.
The women’s team will meet the Laval Rouge et Or on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the first semifinal game of the much anticipated event taking place at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre.
Laval comes into the game as the Quebec conference regular season champions with a 14-2 win-loss record. The Rouge et Or are also No. 3 in the U SPORTS rankings.
The Stingers finished in fourth place with a 7-9 record. Although Laval won all four regular season meetings between the teams, Concordia pushed the limits with its intense, aggressive style of play and forced one of the games into overtime.
Watch for RSEQ first team all-star Richelle Gregoire to lead the Stingers’ attack. She was in double figures in each of the four meetings. Marilyse Roy Viau, a second team all-star, made a statement in the last Concordia-Laval matchup, picking up 27 points in a 77-67 loss on Feb. 25.
The men’s team will battle the UQAM Citadins in semifinal action on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Stingers finished the regular season in second place with an 11-5 record while the Citadins took third spot with an 8-8 performance.
Concordia took three of the four games between the teams this season. The only black mark was a 68-67 loss on Jan. 7.
The two teams also met in the semifinals a year ago with UQAM upsetting the heavily favoured Stingers 70-63. There’s no doubt Concordia will be looking to avenge that loss.
Although several people stepped up in this season’s games versus the Citadins, the Stingers will be counting on their all-stars Ken Beaulieu (first team) and Mike Fosu (second team) to lead the way.
The winners of the semifinal games advance to the championships on Saturday.
When:
Women’s semifinal Thursday, March 2 – 6:30 p.m.
Men’s semifinal Friday, March 3 – 8:30 p.m.
Where:
Pierre Charbonneau Centre, 3000 Viau St., H1V 3J3
Cost:
Adults: $15 (upper level), $20 (floor)
Students: $10 (upper level), $15 (floor)
Website: finale4rseq.ca
