Box Score The McMaster women's basketball team jumped out to an early lead and then played some tenacious defense in a 70-35 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA season opener.

Marauder guard Danielle Boiago started the game with a three-point field goal, and after Toronto went up 8 to 7 for its only lead of the game, McMaster finished the first quarter on an 11-0 run to take an 18-8 lead after one.

McMaster continued to stretch the lead in the second quarter and behind some good work from Stephanie Truelove and Jaklynn Nimec, the lead grew to 35-19 at halftime. Toronto tried to deny McMaster's Hailey Milligan any room in the paint and threw double and triple teams at the All-star post.

The third quarter saw McMaster open up a 25-point advantage at 48-23 before Toronto made a run to get within 48-30, but a timeout settled things down and stemmed the momentum, allowing Mac to lead 52-32 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was all Maroon as Milligan went to work and began to dominate inside, while her Marauder teammates put the clamps on the Varsity Blues. Behind Milligan and Nimec, and some smothering defense, McMaster outscored Toronto 18-3 in the final quarter and coasted to the big win.

McMaster got a double-double from Milligan, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds, with solid support coming from Boiago with 15 and Nimec, who finished with 11. The top shooter for Toronto was Jill Stratton with 15.

Next up for McMaster is the Ryerson Rams who will be in Hamilton on Saturday, November 2 for a 6-pm start as the first half of a doubleheader.