The McMaster women's basketball team got another big game from Hilary Hanaka and played some solid defense to defeat the Nipissing Lakers 71-42 Saturday night in Hamilton.

Right from the opening tip the Marauders pushed the pace on both ends of the floor,  pressing full court and then getting out on the break.   McMaster took a 22-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes, and built the lead up to 19 in the second stanza before entering the intermission with a 36-19 advantage.

Hanaka scored 12 points in the first half on 5 of 9 shooting, just a day after setting a career scoring high with 34.

Again playing with a comfortable lead, Mac coach Theresa Burns was able to get her entire roster into the game with significant playing time.  The Marauder lead was 55-31 after the third quarter and it was more of the same in the fourth as the home team won all four quarters en route to its third straight victory,  improving to 5 and 2 in the OUA West.

Hanaka was sensational in the second half with 15 points to finish with 27 for the game.  She also flirted with a triple-double, as she had 7 rebounds and 7 assists to go along with her scoring total.  Erin Burns was the only other Marauder in double-digits with 10.

Top shooter for Nipissing was Natalie Martinez with 10.

The Marauders will head back on the road for an OUA West division clash at Brock on Friday, November 24.