Marauders beat the rival Badgers at the Meridian Centre
It's always a battle when McMaster and Brock hook up in OUA basketball, and it was more of the same as the Marauders took a hard-fought 83-73 win over the Badgers at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
It's always a battle when McMaster and Brock hook up in OUA basketball, and it was more of the same as the Marauders took a hard-fought 83-73 win over the Badgers at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
McMaster won each of the first two quarters and went into intermission holding a 41-33 lead. Hilary Hanaka scored 11 to pace the Mac attack. Brock tried to deny Marauder Danielle Boiago the ball with a dedicated defender and the strategy worked as Mac's leading scorer was held without a point for the first 20 minutes.
The Badgers won the third quarter 27-23 behind some long-range shooting from Kayla Santilli and going a perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe. Heading to the final stanza, McMaster held a slim 64-60 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, the Marauders twice beat the shot clock to drain treys with Rachael Holmes and Hanaka doing the damage, and getting the lead back into double-digits.
Brock kept it close down the stretch but failed to get the long scoring run it needed to come back. McMaster used the clock to advantage and got to the free-throw line as Brock had to gamble on defense.
Top Mac shooter was Hanaka with 18, but it was the bench production that was vital for McMaster. Marauder 5th-year forward Andrea Polischuk has been part of the rivalry from the Brock side 4 times, but on this night she was a key for McMaster, scoring 14 points off the bench to help defeat her old teammates. Clare Kenney scored 11, and back-up post Ally Schweitzer was huge as she battled all game and dropped 10 points of her own. Top scorer for Brock was Kira Conelissen with a game high 20.
The Marauders will close out the OUA conference schedule at Guelph on Friday night and won't know their playoff seed until all weekend games are finished.
Check Marauders.ca for information about playoff dates and opponents for the Marauders moving into the post-season.
Source: McMaster Marauders
