The McMaster women's basketball team got a balanced attack and displayed some nice long-range shooting in an 81-67 victory over the Waterloo Warriors Saturday night at the Burridge Gym.
The Marauders entered the contest without two of their regular starters, as Clare Kenney and Linnaea Harper were dealing with medical issues. That meant a short bench for Mac Coach Theresa Burns, who had to manage the minutes carefully.
In the opening quarter, the Marauders held a narrow 7-6 lead through the early minutes, before going on a 12-0 run to end the quarter in front 19-6.
The second quarter saw Waterloo start to control the play and the Warriors were able to trim the deficit to just 34-30 by halftime. Hilary Hanaka knocked down back-to-back treys midway through the quarter to help keep the Warriors at bay.
McMaster stepped up the defense in the third quarter and built the lead back up to double digits at 55-43 after 30 minutes.
Heading to the fourth quarter the Mac staff had to keep an eye on the foul situation and be mindful of fatigue as the team was working with a reduced roster this night.
The Warriors fought hard in the final quarter, but McMaster got solid contributions in the fourth from reserves Lexie Spadafora, Erin Burns, and Michaela Ionni, who all scored some important points. The Marauders were able to win the quarter and close out the 81-67 decision.
All five McMaster starters scored in double figures, led by Hanaka with 16. Danielle Boiago and Siobhan Manning both had 15, which was a career high for Manning. Rachael Holmes with 11 and Ally Schweitzer with 10 rounded out the scoring tally for the starting five. Waterloo got an 18-point performance from Amy Jarvis to lead the attack.
The Marauders shot an impressive 9 of 18 (50%) from beyond the arc, with Hanaka and Manning each knocking down three shots from downtown. After being out-rebounded in the first-half, McMaster took better care of the boards over the final 20 minutes to finish with a 33-31 edge.
McMaster improves its OUA record to 9 and 4 and will go back on the road for its next game on Wednesday, January 28 versus the Guelph Gryphons.
