Box Score The McMaster women's basketball team got down early, and despite trying to mount a comeback, dropped a 48-45 game to the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees in Hamilton Saturday night.

In what was far from an offensive showcase for either team, it was Ottawa that took control in the first quarter as McMaster could not find the basket and the Gee-Gees ended the opening 10 minutes with a 22-5 lead.

The lead grew to 20 in the second quarter, before a late McMaster basket sent the teams to the intermission with Ottawa holding a commanding 36-18 advantage.  The Gee-Gees shot  50% from the floor in the first half and made 5 of 8 from beyond the 3-point line.

McMaster switched to a zone defense in the second half and Ottawa's hot shooting cooled off considerably.   Unfortunately, the Marauders also struggled to score, winning the quarter by just 10-8 and still trailing by 16 at 44-28 after 30 minutes.

The final quarter saw the offensive woes continue for Ottawa as the Gee-Gees failed to make a shot from the floor,  only scoring four points on free throws in the final 10 minutes. 

 McMaster finally started to make some shots, especially from long-range.   The Marauders nailed four consecutive treys to cut the deficit to 44-40 and the home fans were looking for more.  The Marauders closed within a basket at 44-42 and had chances to tie or take the lead, but they turned the ball over three times down the stretch and had to foul the Gee-Gees, who made their throws to close out the game.  Turnovers plagued the Marauders for the entire game as they committed a whopping 23.

Olivia Wilson had a game high 11 points for McMaster. 

The Marauders finish the first half of the OUA schedule at 6 and 4, and will not play again until Windsor visits the Burridge Gym on January 3, 2018.