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HOME OF THE MCMASTER MARAUDERS
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Greg Mason
79
Winner MCMASTER WOMEN MACW
75
OTTAWA WOMEN OTTBB
Winner
MCMASTER WOMEN MACW
79
Final
75
OTTAWA WOMEN OTTBB
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
MCMASTER WOMEN MACW 20 22 26 11 79
OTTAWA WOMEN OTTBB 24 15 24 12 75

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Fraser Caldwell

Women's Basketball: No. 3 Marauders Out-Duel No. 1 Gee-Gees 79-75 in Ottawa to Claim Fifth OUA Title

McMaster won its first Critelli Cup championship since 2008

A year after coming agonizingly close to the Critelli Cup title, the Marauders leveraged their experience and went one step further Saturday.

The U SPORTS no. 3-ranked Marauders out-dueled the top-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees 79-75 in a razor-close title contest in the nation's capital to win the fifth OUA championship in their program's history.

With the win, McMaster clinched its first championship since 2008, and erased the heartbreak of its final loss a year earlier on home court. The result also saw the Marauders avenge their regular season loss to the Gee-Gees in November.

The Marauders fifth title is also the fifth for head coach Theresa Burns, and comes in her 26th year at McMaster's helm.

Having previously earned a berth at the U SPORTS Championship with its status as an OUA finalist, McMaster will enter the tournament with one of its top seeds as the conference champion.

Seeding for the tournament, which begins with quarter-final contests on Thursday, March 7, will be determined at a conference call on Sunday, March 3.

Fresh from being named an OUA First Team All-Star for the second consecutive season, senior guard Hilary Hanaka was named as the Player of the Game, after posting a game-high total of 22 points on eight of 19 shooting from the field and three of six from three-point range.

Hanaka added five assists, and provided two vital free throws in the final seconds to secure her team's win in a back-and-forth battle between top five teams in Canada.

"This is what we've been working toward this entire year," said Hanaka in the wake of the win. "It's a step in the right direction for our team and it's the first gold. We're not done yet, but this gold feels pretty good."

"After five years here at Mac, it's amazing to end this year on this note. I'm beyond proud of what we've achieved already and I can't wait to see what comes next."

Second-year guard Sarah Gates and forward Linnaea Harper also starred in the win, with 20 and 14 points respectively.

Gates continued to show the touch from long range that earned her a first all-star nod of her career in 2019, hitting five of 11 shots from the field and three of six from three-point range.

"Against a very tough Ottawa team we had everything we could handle, but we were resilient and we played hard for 40 minutes," said Burns. "Everybody who stepped on the court had an amazing shift for us."

"We shared the ball and played the pace we wanted to play, and it feels so good to be able to bring the trophy and the banner and all of the hardware back to Hamilton and to our McMaster fans."

Both teams showed their nerves early in the do-or-die title game, but it was the hosts who emerged the cleaner from the field and jumped into an early lead in the first quarter.

Ottawa was threatening to run away midway through the quarter when a jumper from Angela Ribarich gave the hosts a seven-point lead, but Mac's Julia Hanaka answered back quickly with a triple to keep the visitors within two possessions at 17-14 with 3:24 to play.

Although the Gee-Gees continued to enjoy the hot hand through the quarter, the Marauders stayed in touch, and were once again within four points at the buzzer when Harper knocked down a three.

The trend continued into the second quarter, where Mac's hard work eventually generated a lead when Hilary Hanaka followed a jumper with a triple two possessions later to push the visitors ahead 34-32 with 5:35 to play before the halftime break.

Their advantage grew to as much as six as the second quarter wound down, and stood at three when forward Olivia Wilson drained the final bucket of the half to give McMaster a 42-39 lead.

Perfectly poised for drama in the final 20 minutes, the title game did not disappoint, and the two teams began trading shots wildly in the third quarter as the lead changed hands in seconds.

The Gee-Gees took the lead five times in the frenetic third frame, with Sarah Besselink nailing a three-pointer to establish the last of those at 59-56 with 3:53 to play in the quarter.

But the Marauders immediately moved to erase it, and did so when Hilary Hanaka chased a fastbreak bucket from Gates with a jumper of her own to restore a Mac lead at 60-59. From there, McMaster maintained its advantage, and was in the driver's seat at the quarter's end at 68-63.

There were plenty of twists and turns left to be had, however, and as the teams approached the final minutes Besselink was once again the thorn in McMaster's side as she drilled a triple to bring her team within one at 73-72.

Ottawa had a chance to take the lead with its next possession, but Besselink uncharacteristically misfired from long range, and Mac countered with a drive to the lane from Gates which drew contact and yielded a point from a made free throw.

Two points apiece brought the teams within a possession yet again with just 20 seconds to play, and the Gee-Gees enjoyed another opportunity to tie with Ribarich headed to the line. But she missed one of two free throws, and Hilary Hanaka was clutch on the other end by knocking down two of her own to put the game beyond reach.
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