The McMaster Marauders women's basketball team faced a tough 49-45 loss to the Brock Badgers in the OUA quarterfinals on Saturday.
 
Though the Marauders took a trip to St. Catharines to face off against the rival Badgers away from home, the stands of the Bob Davis Gym were a sea of maroon contrasted against red bleachers.
 
The cheering, support, and drumming from fans helped inspire the Marauders in an extremely close first quarter. Action kept the teams within just a couple baskets of each other for the initial ten minutes, as they continuously traded off the lead. However, the Marauders found themselves two baskets away from a tied game by the end of the quarter with a score of 20-16.
 
A scoreless first half of the second quarter left the Marauders trailing, but strong defense kept the Badgers at bay, who scored just three points in five minutes. Then, with just three minutes left in the half, McMaster's Deanna Mataseje put away her team's first basket of the quarter, and from behind the three-point line. Forward Amy Stinson added another three to the scoreboard and pushed the Marauders into the lead. To end off the first 20 minutes of the game, point-guard Arianne Soriano sank a foul shot for added security, ending the quarter at 25-23
 
Sarah Gates opened up the scoring for her team in the second half with a three, but it looked to be a tough 10 minutes ahead for the Marauders. The Badgers dominated the court, almost doubling their score by the end of the third. Though the Marauders added 10 points to their tally, they ended the quarter trailing 41-33.
 
With 10 minutes left to fight for a spot in the OUA semifinals, the Marauders ramped up the pressure in the fourth quarter. McMaster minimized the gap between them and the Badgers with both offensive and defensive strategy, including from Mataseje, who found the net from the three-point line to bring the Marauders within two points of the Badgers at 47-45.
 
Intensity brewed in the dying seconds of the game when veteran Gates was fouled to floor by her opponent, leading the Marauders to take a crucial timeout with 21.9 seconds left in the game. After timeouts from both teams and two foul shots scored by the Badgers, McMaster unfortunately fell to Brock 49-45.

With the loss, the Marauders season comes to an end after a tumultuous year that witnessed the team bounce back in numerous ways, flexing their adversity. Centre Alisa Smith will be the Marauders lone graduate, as this young team returns to OUA competition next year for the 2022-23 season.