The McMaster Marauders come out of the nation's capital, splitting both their games against stiff competition, falling to the No. 10 nationally ranked Carleton Ravens 66-55 on Friday, but bounced back in a big way, dropping the nation's No. 1 ranked team, the Ottawa Gee-gees, 74-72 only a day later.
 
Coming into the final game of their regular season, the Marauders needed a fourth-quarter surge to steal the win against the Gee-gees on Saturday night.
 
The nation's best team got out to their largest lead of the game with 7:15 remaining in the final quarter, following a Tyra Blizzard jumper to push the score to 62-55.
 
Fourth-year forward Olivia Wilson got the momentum going for the maroon, knocking down a jump shot, and grabbing on steal on the ensuing defensive possession. Wilson found herself rolling, grabbing a board on the Marauders end, leading to a basket in transition to give McMaster a 70-67 lead.
 
The pair of Sarah Gates and Christina Buttenham dropped 16 of their combined 32 second-half points in the fourth quarter alone, keeping the Marauders above water.
 
Blizzard hit another shot for the Gee-gees, but Buttenham was quick to answer with a pull-up of her own. With the score tied at 72 apiece, Gates went on to knock down two free-throws, after forcing a foul with four seconds left, to ice the game
 
Despite poor shooting from deep – 18.5% on 5-27 attempts – the Marauders were good on 36.1% from field-goal range, and knocked down 17 free-throws from the charity stripe.
 
Buttenham led the way for the Marauders, going for 28 points, shooting well above 50-40-90 splits, with 52.4% from field goal, 40.0% from deep, and connecting on 4-of-4 from the foul line.
 
Gates was equally as affective, with 24 points, five rebounds, and three steals in 36 minutes of action, while Wison dropped 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
On Friday night, the Marauders let an early first half lead slip away after taking the Carleton Ravens into the halftime break up 38-31.
 
The No. 10 ranked Ravens closed out the game with a defensively dominant second half, holding the visiting Marauders to just 17 points in the final two quarters, compared to their 35 points.
 
Gates and Buttenham both dropped 17 apiece, while Mia Spadafora was good for six points and nine rebounds.
 
NEXT UP: The Marauders now look ahead to the postseason as they stay on the road on Wednesday night to take on the Guelph Gryphons at 7pm for the first-round of the OUA playoffs.