The upcoming weekend of February 19 & 20 will see the McMaster men's and women's basketball teams play their final OUA conference games versus the Nipissing Lakers and Laurentian Voyageurs respectively.
On the women's side, both Nipissing and Laurentian are still in the OUA playoff race, as they are currently tied for the final playoff spot in the OUA North division. That means that the Marauders must treat both opponents as potential playoff teams, with the weekend results having an impact on OUA playoff seeding.
The McMaster women's team dropped one spot in the national rankings after splitting games with Ottawa and Carleton last week, and now holds the No. 8 spot in the CIS top-ten.
Danielle Boiago became McMaster's all-time OUA scoring leader with her 16 points versus Carleton and now has 1,293 points in her Marauder career, and she will be recognized for her achievement before Friday's game.
Saturday's game will also be Senior's Night, as the team recognizes the senior players on this year's squad.
Tip-off on both Friday and Saturday is at 6-PM.
In men's play, Nipissing is chasing Laurentian for the final playoff spot in the OUA North, so both of McMaster's weekend opponents will be highly motivated to make gains in the standings as the schedule winds down.
The Marauders remain in contention for a playoff bye, so they also have something substantial to play for against their northern guests, and therefore can't afford to slip up on homecourt.
With March looming, McMaster hopes to build on last week's big win over Ottawa and get primed for a strong end to the conference season, before pushing into the playoffs.
The Saturday game will also be Senior's Night for the men's team, and the team will acknowledge this year's seniors in a pre-game ceremony.
Men's action will get underway at 8-PM both Friday and Saturday.
McMaster will close out the OUA schedule with games on the road versus Brock on February 24 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, and at the University of Guelph on February 26.
Both Marauder teams are guaranteed to advance to the OUA playoffs, with dates and opponents to be determined.
