HAMILTON, Ont. – The McMaster Marauders dominated the boards Wednesday night en route to a 77-63 win over the visiting Western Mustangs in a key game for both teams at the Burridge Gym in Hamilton.

BOX SCORE

The Marauders outrebounded the Mustangs 47-33 overall, and were particularly strong on the offensive glass, picking up 15 offensive boards and 12 second-chance points during the win, which improved their record to 10-9 on the season. The Mustangs, who entered Wednesday night’s contest with the same 9-9 record as McMaster, fell to a game under .500 and now sit in a tie for fifth place in the OUA West with Lakehead.

After allowing the Mustangs to score the final five points of the first half to reduce their deficit to just four (37-33), the Marauders regained the momentum in the second with a 7-0 run to open the third quarter. The McMaster women didn’t look back, outscoring Western by 10 in the final two periods for the win.

Taylor Chiarot scored a team-high 22 points for the Marauders, going 9-for-20 from the floor overall and 3-for-7 from three-point range. Hailey Milligan had a solid all-around game, posting a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds to go along with six assists, three blocks and a steal. Elizabeth Burns went 8-for-18 and finished with 17 points.

Jenny Vaughan led Western offensively, tallying a game-high 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting in addition to four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Annabel Hancock made four three-pointers en route to 12 points off the bench for the Mustangs.

The Marauders shot 41.4% overall Wednesday night (33.3% from three-point range), while the Mustangs were 36.5% overall and 41.2% from beyond the arc.

The Mustangs (9-10) are back in action this Saturday, Feb. 11, when they will hit the road once again for a game against the Waterloo Warriors (1-18) at 12:00 p.m.