Marauders hold off Rams in 76-74 win
TORONTO, Ont. - The McMaster women's basketball team was able to hold off a late run by the Ryerson Rams on its way to a 76-74 victory on Wednesday night in Toronto. The Marauders held the lead for most of the night, but it came right down to the final second as Vanessa Pickard's free-throws with 0.3-seconds remaining were the margin of victory.
TORONTO, Ont. - The McMaster women's basketball team was able to hold off a late run by the Ryerson Rams on its way to a 76-74 victory on Wednesday night in Toronto. The Marauders held the lead for most of the night, but it came right down to the final second as Vanessa Pickard's free-throws with 0.3-seconds remaining were the margin of victory.
The Rams started strong at home, beginning the game on a 9-2 run, but the Marauders were able to respond going on a run of their own to tie the game up at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter action began with both teams exchanging buckets before Mac managed to establish a seven-point lead with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. The Rams tried to counter but the McMaster lead was safe as the lead stood at 35-28 going into halftime.
In the third, McMaster got it going early with three triples to start the quarter and bringing the lead up to 12. However, Ryerson followed up with a 12-3 run to cut the McMaster lead to just three points with four minutes remaining in the quarter. The Marauders then rallied, ending up with an eight-point lead heading into the final frame.
Ryerson made an early fourth quarter push and trimmed McMaster's lead to just two points with seven minutes remaining. Both teams went back and forth before a three-pointer by Nicole Didomenico gave the Rams a one-point edge with just over two minutes left in the game.
Marauder Linnaea Harper was then fouled, making one for two from the line to tie the game up at 72, then making a mid-range jumper on the next possession to give Mac a two-point lead with under a minute left to play.
The Marauders fouled Ryerson with 20 seconds remaining and after two made free throws, the game was all tied up again with McMaster having the final shot.
With two fouls to give, the Rams were able to stall McMaster from making a play and cut the time remaining down to just five seconds. However, with time about to expire Ryerson fouled Pickard, sending her to the line where she knocked down two shots for the win.
Danielle Boiago led the Marauders in scoring with 24 points while also pulling down seven boards, dishing four assists and coming away with two steals. Hilary Hanaka knocked down four three-pointers to score 12 points, while Linnaea Harper and Clare Kenney scored 12 and 10 respectively for McMaster. Vanessa Pickard provided a spark off the bench scoring 12 points and coming away with two steals on the defensive end. Kelly Ring led Ryerson with 22.
The Marauders will have a couple days off before they head back to Toronto on Saturday, January 28th to go up against the Toronto Varsity Blues at noon.
The game can be streamed online at oua.tv and is on radio at CFMU 93.3FM.
Source: McMaster Marauders
