The McMaster women's basketball team opened its non-conference schedule on Sunday afternoon and dropped a 70-59 decision to the visiting McGill Martlets.

It was the first game for the Marauders after six long weeks of training and the competitive rust showed early against the defending national champs from McGill.

The Marauders trailed 18-10 after the first quarter, and the deficit was 37-28 at the intermission.  McMaster shot only 33% from the floor over the first two quarters, while McGill made a tidy 65% of its field-goal attempts.

The Martlets extended their advantage after 30 minutes, building the lead to 56-39 heading to the fourth quarter. 

Playing in front of the home fans for the first time, the Marauders refused to quit and behind some terrific long-range shooting from Julia Hanaka, got to within 8 points of the Martlets in the fourth quarter.   Despite the late rally,  time ran out on McMaster and McGill closed out the win.  Hanaka made all four of her 3-point shots in the final stanza to key the Mac comeback attempt.

Top scorer for the Marauders was Hilary Hanaka, who finished with 20 on the day; sister Julia dropped 16 for the game, and Linnaea Harper chipped in 13.   Top shooter for McGill was  Alex Kiss-Rusk with a game high 21.

McGill dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Marauders 44-21, which has to be an area of concern for the Maroon.

McMaster will next play at the Ryerson Darcel Wright Memorial Tournament October 20-22, and the OUA regular season starts on Wednesday, October 25 when the Marauders host the Guelph Gryphons.