Box Score The McMaster women's basketball team put its No. 1 ranking on the line for the first time and came up with a 68-65 win over the No. 6-ranked Brock Badgers.

The Badgers jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, but McMaster responded with a 17-7 run to open a 10-point lead and the maroon were front 19-12 after 10 minutes.

Brock was able to reduce the deficit to 33-28 by halftime, and started the third quarter on fire, by hitting three long treys and taking the lead at 45-44.  The third quarter ended with the Badgers on top 51-47.

The fourth quarter saw McMaster tie the game at 51-51, and from there the teams went back and forth exchamging the lead over the next few possessions.  The Marauders were able to open a four-point lead, when Siobhan Manning picked up a loose ball off a Marauder miss and found Danielle Boiago open on the dome for a shot that made the score 58-54 for Mac.  That cushion allowed the Marauders to stay in front through the final stanza.

The Badgers were able to make it a one possession game but could not get the stop or make the big shot they needed to have a shot at forcing overtime.  Boaigo led the Marauders with 18 hard-earned points, while Rachael Holmes added 14 and Clare Kenney finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.   the top shooter for Brock was Kira Cornelisen with 14.

The Marauders shot 41% from the floor for the game, while Brock only made 28% of its field-goals.  The Badgers won the rebounding battle by 45-41.

The Marauders will now head to Sault St. Marie for a game at Algoma University on Saturday at 6 p.m. and available for viewing on OUA.tv