It was an important game against a division rival, so the McMaster women's basketball team ground out a tough 63-59 win over visiting Lakehead to split their weekend series.

The Marauders shot the ball better than they had the previous night, while defending and rebounding also improved.   Behind their star Jylisa Williams, the Thunderwolves led after the first quarter 17-13, but the Marauders served notice that they would be much tougher defending the import from Atlanta.

The McMaster defense was outstanding in the second stanza, limiting Lakehead to only five points while the team scored 16 of its own to take a 29-22 lead into halftime.   Williams was still tough to stop as she scored 13 of Lakehead's 22-point total.  McMaster was a little more balanced in its attack with seven players hitting the scoresheet compared to Lakehead's four.

The third quarter saw McMaster push the tempo and the Maroon lead got up to 15 midway through the quarter. Then Lakehead turned up the full-court pressure and made a run that started to chisel down the Marauder lead.  Heading into the fourth quarter, McMaster held a 50-41 advantage.

In the final period, Lakehead continued to press and McMaster also dealt with some foul trouble that shortened the bench.  Marauder Clare Kenney made a couple of key baskets to maintain some space and Lakehead started to commit some fouls of its own, with the Marauders making their free-throws.

The Thunderwolves made a determined comeback but time ran out on them as McMaster held on for the victory.

McMaster's Kenney had another strong effort, setting a new personal scoring high with 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double.  Danielle Boiago dropped 15, and made some key foul-shot at crunch time.  Lakehead's Williams scored 34, while grabbing 11 boards, but was the only Lakehead player in double figures.

The Marauders will next travel to Brock to face the Badgers on Wednesday, November 19^th.