Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders women's basketball team won their third game in a row on Wednesday night over the Guelph Gryphons. Marauder Jaklynn Nimec was named the Big Mac Player of the Game in the 66-63 win.
Marauder Jaklynn Nimec would get the scoring started for McMaster with a three pointer and from there both teams would trade points for the lead until they were both tied at 6 for about two minutes. With some foul shots made from Liz Burns, McMaster's lead would grow to four points at 10-6.
Later in the quarter, a three-pointer from the Gryphons and a foul shot would give the visitors the lead back at 11-10. Another three-pointer from Nimec would be the last basket of the half, as the Marauders would earn back their four point lead at 15-11, going into the second.
McMaster would continue to maintain their four point lead throughout the first part of the second quarter, responding to every basket Guelph would score. Unable to score, the Gryphons would call a timeout at the 4:30 mark at 22-18. The timeout would prove to work for Guelph, as they came out scoring a lay-up and later, two foul shots at the line.
All tied up, the Gryphons would then go ahead 24-22 as the Marauders continued to be shut out. With less than a minute to go, point guard Vanessa Bonomo would tie up the score once again and both teams would head into the second half tied at 24.
Three minutes into the third, both teams were still tied up with a score of 30-30. It would be the Marauders that would take the first significant lead of the game at 39-32 thanks to a three-pointer and the extra foul shot from Nimec. A deep two-point shot from Bonomo following that would push the lead to nine with three minutes to go in the quarter.
Guelph would then go on a 7-0 run to get within two, but Bonomo would break that cycle with a three of her own. The Marauders would head into the final quarter up four at 48-44.
Early in the fourth, McMaster's lead would stay the same as once again they would continue to respond to baskets from the Gryphons. Later in the quarter, Guelph would find a way to tie it up at 52 with two fouls shots.
After a timeout called by Guelph, Nimec would down another threee for McMaster and that would help push the lead back to eight points in favour of the Marauders. Guelph would stay in it with scores down low on the post, but McMaster's lead would not be able to be overtaken again in the game, as they went on to win it 66-63.
Marauder Jaklynn Nimec was named the Big Mac Player of the Game for her team-high 18 points. Hailey Milligan would recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and point guard Vanessa Bonomo would also contribute with another 13 points and seven rebounds for McMaster. Captain Taylor Chiarot would sink another 10 points and grab another six rebounds in the win.
For the Gryphons, Kayla Goodhoodf was honoured with the Big Mac Player of the Game for her game-high 25 points on the night. Jasmine Douglas grabbed an outstanding 18 rebounds and scored another 14 points for the visitors and Samantha Russell added another 13 rebounds for the Gryphons.
The Marauders face the Waterloo Warriors on the road on Saturday afternoon.
