What looked like it would be a close game early turned into a rout as the McMaster women's basketball team defeated the Queen's Gaels 74-45 on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton. 

It was Marauder Weekend at McMaster, which serves as a winter homecoming, and alumni of the teams are invited back to enjoy various events, while cheering on the current generation of Marauders.

The first quarter was very even between the two teams as McMaster jumped out to a quick lead, and Queen's coming back to even the score at 12-12 after 10 minutes. 

McMaster scored the first six points of the second stanza, forcing Queen's to take a timeout to stem the momentum.  The Mac run continued though as the lead grew to 10 at 22-12 before the Gaels finally scored a basket.   Queen's got the deficit down to six at 26-20, at which point McMaster called timeout to slow down the Gaels.   The rest of the quarter was all Maroon, as McMaster went on a 12-1 run to finish the half and carried a 38-21 lead into intermission.

Struggling on offense, Queen's had no answer as McMaster continued to extend its advantage in the third quarter.  Heading to the final quarter, the Marauder lead was 55-32.

It got worse for the Gaels in the fourth quarter, as Danielle Boiago started to heat up.  Knocking down shots from everywhere, Boiago scored 12 points in the final frame and McMaster closed out the 29-point win.

Boiago finished with a game high 26 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. Clare Kenney also had a double-double for the Maroon with 13 points and 13 boards, while Ally Schweitzer with 12 and Rachael Holmes with 10 also scored in double figures. Top shooter for Queen's was Gemma Bullard with 11 points.
 

With so many alumni coming back to support the team, it was nice of the Marauders to be able to reward them with a victory.

McMaster shot a respectable 44% from the floor, while Queen's never found the range and ended up shooting a frosty 25% as a team.   Despite having an overall size advantage, Queen's allowed McMaster to control the backboards, as the Marauders secured 53 caroms to the Gaels' 29.

McMaster improves to 12-4 in the OUA central and will next face Guelph on Saturday, February 14 at 1 p.m. in the Burridge Gym.