By Leighton Geraghty – Contributor

Nov. 21, 2024, the Bishop’s Gaiters returned to Mitchell gymnasium on home opening night. Both teams were off to a fiery start on the road as they travelled the previous weeks to Montreal to play the Concordia Stingers and their rivals the UQAM Citadins. As a travelling fan, both teams have looked impressive jumping to a combined 4-0 record. 

The women’s team has showcased great defense and grit as Victoria Gauna, one of the best players in the nation, has been sidelined due to an early injury. Newcomers Sabryna Purich (#6) and Shaylan Greaves (#7) have already made names for themselves as former coach and legend on campus, Eddie Pomykala, makes note that they are “ballers.”

 Tip-off was set at 6:00 p.m. as the Gaiters looked to kick off their home opening game against the McGill Martlets. First-year head coach Andrea Torres was looking to maintain a perfect start to the season. The Gaiters came out slower than expected as McGill started with a 17-7 lead after the first quarter. Coach Torres rallied the troops as the Gaiters battled back into the game, winning the next two quarters by a combined score of 44-31. The fourth quarter went back and forth, as both teams tried to gain the better of one another. Unfortunately, the 2024 RSEQ rookie of the year Eve Atchampone (#0) went down with an injury in the quarter. The Gaiters fought to the end but came up short as McGill scored with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. 

This handed Bishops their first loss of the season with a final score of 66-64. Looking ahead to next week, Bishop’s will host both UQAM and Concordia. While speaking with Coach Torres she said, “These next two games are very important to us. They are our last home games in 2024 and would put us in an optimal position in the standings over two teams that we have already beaten.” 

The men’s team came into the season ranked in the top ten. Throughout their two first games on the road, they have continued to climb the rankings and are now ranked seventh in the country. The Gaiters are returning a veteran squad led by the one and only Charles Robert (#10). Just like the women’s team the men as well have faced some injuries throughout the preseason. This has not been a big detriment to them as they have a “next man up” mentality. Coming into the McGill week, there seemed to be a different type of attitude on the team. McGill had just been blown out by Laval. This loss echoed throughout the RSEQ. The men’s team would have to silence the hype, as they would be their own worst enemy this week. Interestingly, the team showed how devoted they are to their mission this year and banned social media for the week. 

The game got underway at 8:30 p.m. after a phenomenal pre-game ceremony where the sold-out crowd was introduced to the 2024-25 team. Bishop’s won the game in the second quarter as they came away outsourcing McGill 25-9 in the quarter. Never looking back, the team continued to impress the home crowd. First-year Ulrich Larochelle (#13) rose up for one of the best plays I’ve ever seen on a putback dunk followed by another dunk from the free-throw line. McGill was able to slow down Charles Robert’s great start to the season. This led Etienne Gagnon (#14) to take over the game. Etienne was named Maxi Athlete of the Week as well as Graveson Financial Player of the game. In a post-game interview with Etienne, I was interrupted as the whole team came in to cheer on their teammate. This showed the brotherhood that the Gaiters have this year. The attitude that they bring to the gym is breathtaking. 

Just like the women’s team the Gaiters played host to UQAM and Concordia this past week. The men stunned UQAM as they dominated from the get go. They ended up winning the game 97-74 sending a message to the rest of the RSEQ. Unfortunately on Saturday they fell to the hands of the Concordia Stingers who had a huge comeback in the second half of the game to beat the Gaiters. Concordia came into the gym with a purpose and spoiled the weekend sweep which was at stake.

Bishops looks to bounce back into the win column heading down to Laval for the second game of the double header on December 6th.