It was not the prettiest game of basketball every played, but the McMaster women's basketball team defended home-court and beat the York Lions 56-41 on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams started the game with nothing falling and it took until almost four minutes had elapsed before Clare Kenney ended the drought and got McMaster on the scoreboard.  The Marauders held the Lions without any points until the final two York possessions of the quarter in the final minute.  After 10 minutes of play, McMaster held a 12-4 lead.

The play was very sloppy with both teams committing numerous turnovers, to go along with the offensive struggles.  In the second quarter, York started to have some success from long-range and behind four successful 3-point shots, carved into the McMaster lead.  The Marauders got a scare when Danielle Boiago ran into a screen and went down hard.  She left the game with six minutes left in the quarter and did not return. At halftime the Maroon advantage stood at 27-20.

As the third quarter started Boiago was back on the floor and behind her and Hilary Hanaka, the Marauder lead started to grow.    McMaster turned up the defensive pressure and held the Lions to nine points in the period, taking a 46-39 lead into the final stanza.

The fourth quarter saw the teams play fairly even, and York could only shave a basket off the McMaster lead, before the final buzzer signaled a 56-41 Marauder win.
The shooting numbers did not flatter either team as McMaster shot only 39% from the floor, while York was even chillier at 28% on its field-goal attempts.  York won the battle of the boards 38-37.

Mac got a 15 point effort from Hanaka to lead the scoring parade, followed by Boiago with 14 and Kenney with 11. York was led by Haley Bowie with 11 points.

McMaster now heads out on the road for two games before the exam break, playing at Western on November 26 and at Windsor on November 29.