Make it 13 straight victories for the McMaster Marauders women's basketball team, who played host to the Algoma Thunderbirds Friday night.

The Marauders took the first of the back-to-back series against the Thunderbirds with a convincing 76-42 win inside the Burridge Gym, as the Marauders get set to embark on a playoff run with their regular season schedule wrapping up this weekend.

McMaster bettered their record to 19-4 with one game remaining, keeping pace atop the OUA West standings, while the Thunderbirds were handed their 21st loss of the season and sit with a 2-21 record.

First-year guard Sarah Gates (Newmarket, ON) had her 10th double-digit performance since the Marauders streak began in January, tallying 17 points against the Thunderbirds on four of 11 shooting, including 43 per cent from three-point land.

Olivia Wilson (Lion's Head, ON) worked the paint for the Marauders, scoring 16 points on the night, and going six of 14 from the field.

Karly Fracalanza (Sarnia, ON) led the Thunderbirds in points for the night. She finished the game with 13 points and was 50 per cent (three of six) from beyond the arc.

Despite the disparity in their records, the Marauders were sure to not take the Thunderbirds lightly.

The home side started strongly, putting the visitors on the back foot almost immediately and stretching out a 21-point lead at halftime, as McMaster led 43-22 as the teams hit the break.

The Marauders capitalized off of turnovers in the opening half, scoring 22 points off of turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. McMaster went on to further add to that stat by finishing the game with 33 points off of turnovers.

Both teams struggled to reignite their offences to begin the second half, as there were just seven total points scored in the first five minutes following halftime.

That changed following a Gates three-pointer as the teams entered the back half of the quarter, and Hilary Hanaka (Hamilton, ON) added a layup off of a turnover immediately following.

McMaster worked the paint in the final quarter, drawing fouls and working their way to the foul line to help seal their victory over Algoma.

UP NEXT: The Marauders and Thunderbirds will be back in action Saturday, February 17 for the second game of their back-to-back series to close out the regular season for the Marauders. The team will be honouring the graduating trio of Adrienne Peters, Jelena Mamic and Lexie Spadafora as part of their Senior Night celebrations.

All Marauders games can be streamed on OUA.tv.