A disastrous opening quarter in Sudbury put their perfect start to the season in jeopardy, but the Marauders chipped away for the remainder of Saturday's game and ultimately came away with a hard-won victory.

McMaster trailed by 11 points at the end of the first, but battled back to beat the Laurentian Voyageurs 74-70 and move to 5-0 on the season, coming through their tightest game of the young season in the process.

Second-year guard Sarah Gates was the leader of Mac's offensive charge for a second consecutive night, matching the career high that she posted in North Bay Friday by pouring in 24 points yet again Saturday.

Gates was six for 16 from the floor, although she cooled from behind the three-point arc in hitting just one of seven from range. She made up for that shortfall by being clinical from the free throw line, draining 11 of the 14 opportunities she had from the stripe.

Effective with slightly less usage, fellow guard Hilary Hanaka went six for 12 from the field and two of four from three-point range, providing McMaster's second leading score with 14 points in the win.

Ice cold to open the night, the Marauders scored just eight points in the first quarter and fell behind 19-8 at its conclusion, giving themselves a considerable mountain to climb in the final 30 minutes.

But as their offence re-ignited in the second, McMaster clawed back four points from the deficit at the half, and ensured a battle down the stretch as the Marauders trailed 37-30.

Continuing to inch back to level pegging, McMaster eventually earned its first lead since the opening possession of the game when the Hanaka sisters joined forces, with Hilary hitting a three-pointer to narrow the deficit to one at 53-52 with 1:13 to play, before Julia drained a jumper on the next possession to give the Marauders the lead before the horn.

The teams traded blows, and leads, in the fourth quarter, until a pair of clutch free throws from Gates gave the Marauders the final advantage with 40 seconds to play, and another pair from her put it beyond reach.

NEXT UP: McMaster returns home to play host to the Ryerson Rams and Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday November 16 and Saturday, November 17 respectively, with both games set to tip off at 6:00 p.m.