HAMILTON, Ont. - The first round of the OUA women's basketball playoffs wrapped up on Wednesday evening. For a chance at advancing to the OUA Quarterfinals, the Marauders (14-9, 8th seed) were tasked with beating the 9th seed Western Mustangs (13-10) and found success. The Birds took the contest 55-47.

Emily Frankovic (Thornhill, Ont.) set the stage for the Marauders, opening the game's scoring with a step-back jumper over former Marauder Jenna Button. Frankovic led the Birds in the first quarter with seven points. The Mustangs got off to a hot start, recording a triple and an and-one within a minute of play. Despite the visitors' efforts, the Marauders went on a dominant 11-0 run highlighted by a sweet play when Amy Stinson (Hamilton, Ont.) found Teja McCormick (Toronto, Ont.) on a backdoor cut. Western rounded out the quarter with a five-point run of their own. The score stood at 17-11 for McMaster after the first.

The purple and white began the second quarter on an 8-0 run. Then, McMaster's Sophia Urosevic (Kitchener, Ont.) scored seven consecutive points to extend the Marauders' lead to 26-18. The physical play between both teams resulted in trading baskets for the remainder of the quarter. Western entered halftime off a fast-break layup buzzer-beater, bringing the score to 32-28 for McMaster.

Deanna Mataseje (Ancaster, Ont.), ranked second in McMaster's women's basketball program for most steals recorded (204), continued to excel on the defensive end after converting on a basket following a timely steal. Both squads struggled to find the net in the third quarter, scoring six points each. The Birds led 38-34 going into the fourth.
 

The Marauders and Mustangs both had a win-and-in mentality in the fourth. The gritty play had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Down the stretch, fourth-year Cassandra Joli-Cour (Johnstown, Ont.) came up clutch, hitting a baseline jumper and followed up with a crafty move to finish at the net on the consecutive play. Joli-Cour finished with eight points in the final quarter. After struggling beyond the arc, Stinson got the Birds going and pushed McMaster's advantage to 11 after draining a three-pointer.

McMaster's defense was the star of the show as they limited Western to four points in the first six minutes of the quarter and to only 19 points in the second half. It was all smiles for the Marauders after walking off the court triumphant, 55-47.

With the win, the Marauders will advance to the OUA Quarterfinals and face the undefeated Carleton Ravens (22-0) on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. The last time these two teams met this season, the Birds kept things close but were ultimately defeated 81-70. Tune into the game at https://oua.tv/