GUELPH, Ont. – Nearly a year removed from its first U SPORTS National Championship, the McMaster women's basketball team will open the 2020 OUA playoffs with a first-round matchup on the road against the eighth-ranked Guelph Gryphons on Wednesday.
Tip-off is set for 7pm inside the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre and can be seen live on OUA.tv.
While they enter the postseason as the nine-seed, the Marauders' goal remains the same; to repeat as Critelli Cup champions and advance to the big dance.
The winner of Wednesday's contest will travel to London to face the top-seeded Western Mustangs in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Having won eight of its last 10 games to close out the regular season, including three over nationally ranked opponents, McMaster has (14-8) managed to claw its way back into the playoff picture following a midseason four-game slide. In the tale of two halves this season, McMaster's lethal offense has featured two of the top four scorers in the conference as veteran guards Sarah Gates, and Christina Buttenham are averaging 17.4 and 16.9 points per game, respectively.
Buttenham, a fifth-year senior and Ancaster, Ont. native has also shown her defensive prowess this season, breaking the McMaster takeaway record with 3.6 steals per game.
Averaging just shy of 10.5 points in her last seven games, rookie Jenna Button has proven to be a valuable asset for head coach Theresa Burns in the second half of the season and will be relied on heavily in her first postseason run. Burns has also found a key rebounding machine off the bench in Mia Spadafora.
The Marauders run into a strong Guelph squad that handed the Marauders a 92-60 setback in their only meeting this season back on November 9. Although McMaster controlled the first half and held a four-point lead at the break, the Gryphons exploded for 55 second-half points led by Ivana Vujadinovic and Burke Bechard. At 13 points per game, Bechard has paced the Guelph offense while shooting 44 percent from the field.
The Gryphons enter the first round on a three-game win streak over struggling teams, with a pair of victories over Algoma and a win on senior night against the Toronto Varsity Blues.
This experienced Marauders team, with nine returners from last season, are no strangers to the pressure of a single-elimination playoff format, and will be a team to watch for as they look to ride their momentum deep into the postseason.
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