Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster women's basketball team lost to the visiting Ryerson Rams on Saturday night at Burridge Gymnasium. In the 72-60 loss, McMaster's Player of the Game honours went to Liz Burns for her team-high 18 points and five rebounds. 

Early in the first Ryerson would go ahead five points at 10-5 but Isabel Ormond (Hamilton, Ont.) would score a three-pointer to keep it within two. Despite strong defence from the Rams, Taylor Chiarot (Hamilton, Ont.) would sink a lay-up to get the Marauders within one but with three minutes to go, Ryerson would respond with a lay-up of their own. Then, a shot from Ryerson's Chloe Mago (Scarborough, Ont.) later on would give the Rams the five point lead they started out with to end the quarter 18-13. 

At the beginning of the second, McMaster would have trouble sinking baskets after numerous missed shots. Marauder Samantha Hunt (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) would score McMaster's first point of the quarter from a foul shot and CHiarot would follow that up with a deep two-pointer. As the quarter continued, play did not improve on McMaster's part as Ram Ashley MacDonald (Port  Colbourne, Ont.) sunk a three but Marauder Katie Knight (Aylmer, Ont.) would follow that up with another three-pointer to make it 28-19 in favour of Ryerson. Ryerson continued to push but Knight would score another three on the next possession to help the Marauders stay within ten. The half would end with Ryerson up by 11 with a score of 35-24. 

The third quarter saw scores from either end of the court and McMaster would find themselves within nine with three minutes left thanks to an and-one from Liz Burns (Hamilton, Ont.), where she scored all three points. At the end of the third, Ryerson would maintain their 11 point lead from half time with a score of 52-41. Burns would have a team-high ten points for the Marauders thus far. 

In the fourth, McMaster let up on defence, giving the Rams an opportunity to extend their lead to 16. With the score at 61-45, Ryerson continued to hold possession with offensive rebounds and by drawing fouls. Later, with five minutes to go in the game, McMaster would make a 6-0 run to get within 12 with another deep shot from Chiarot but McMaster was unable to stop the shooting from beyond the arc and in the paint as the Rams took the win 72-60. 

The Rams had three players in double digit points including Angela Tilk (Welland, Ont.) who scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, MacDonald who had another 18 points and six assists and Kelsey Wright (Brampton, Ont.) who added 10 more.

For the Marauders, Burns' 19 points and five rebounds were accompanied by Chiarot's 17 points and five rebounds for the high scorers for McMaster. 

The Marauders take a break and get back at it on January 4, 2012 with a game at Windsor at 6:00 p.m.