Marauders down Queen's 65-55 to advance to OUA Final Four

In what was a defensive showdown, the McMaster women's basketball team defeated the visiting Queen's Gaels 65-55 in OUA quarterfinal action at the Burridge Gym on Saturday.  The victory propels the Marauders into next week's OUA Final-Four, at a site still to be determined.

It was the visitors that jumped out to an early 9-4 lead, but by the end of the first quarter McMaster had fought back to take a 12-10 advantage.

The Marauders pushed tempo to try and counter the size advantage that Queen's brings to the floor and by halftime the McMaster margin had grown to 32-25.  Danielle Boiago had a strong half with 13 points, and Linnaea Harper came off the Mac bench to add eight.

Neither team shot the ball very well and it showed in the stats, as McMaster made only 36% of its shot attempts, while Queen's shot at a 29% rate of success.

The third quarter saw McMaster increase its lead, holding the Gaels to just nine points in the period and getting a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Siobhan Manning to make the lead 45-34.

Things got heated in the fourth quarter, as first McMaster added to its lead in the early minutes, only to see the Gaels make a late run.  With just over a minute left, Queen's had fought back to within 57-54 but The Gaels had to foul and Boiago went six for six from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

Boiago finished with a game-high 22, while Hilary Hanaka stepped up in the second half with 10 points and finished with 17, followed by Harper with 12.  Clare Kenney was strong on the boards for McMaster with 12 rebounds against the taller Gaels.  The top shooter for Queen's was Robin Pearson, who scored 16 and grabbed 15 rebounds.

McMaster will next play the winner of the quarterfinal between Ottawa and Guelph next week at the Final-Four.  Game time and location to be confirmed.

Source: McMaster Marauders