Box Score The McMaster women's basketball team had to overcome a slow start, but got a stellar game from Danielle Boiago, as it rallied late to defeat the Lakehead Thunderwolves 63-58 in Hamilton Friday night.

Not having played a real game for two weeks was evident for McMaster, as the team looked rusty and had trouble making shots in the first quarter of the OUA season opener. 

Lakehead took advantage of the cool Mac shooting to take a 16-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes.  Boiago scored 8 of McMaster's 12 points, and looked like she was in for a big night.

The Mac offense warmed up in the second stanza and with Boiago still making shots, the Marauders won the quarter but still trailed 35-33 at intermission.  The senior guard from Hamilton drilled a long three-point shot just before the buzzer to draw the Marauders close.

McMaster also won the third quarter 13-12 as points became hard to come by for both teams.  Heading to the final quarter, Lakehead was still in front 47-46.

The Marauders took their first lead since the opening quarter at 54-52, with almost seven minutes left, and forcing Lakehead into a timeout.    A key moment in the fourth was when Boiago was fouled on a 3-point attempt as the shot-clock was about to expire and she made all three free-throws to bump the lead to 59-54, with under three minutes to play.  With Lakehead trying to close the gap, it was Marauder Linnaea Harper, who made two tough inside shots in the last two minutes to keep the Maroon in front.

Boiago had a terrific game, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 11 of 20 from the floor and a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe.  Clare Kenney chipped in with 10 tough points for McMaster, while Harper finished with 8 points but grabbed 12 rebounds.   For Lakehead,  post player August Ricketts was a threat for the entire game, and finished with 19.

McMaster will face Lakehead again on Saturday night in the closer of the two-game weekend series. Tip off at the Burridge Gym is set for 6-pm.