HAMILTON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs season came to an end on Saturday afternoon, with the McMaster Marauders defeating the purple and white 82-54 in an OUA Quarterfinal at Burridge Gymnasium.
With the win the Marauders move on to the Critelli Cup Final Four, with their first matchup set for Friday with the opponent and location still to be determined.
Fourth-year forward
Victoria Heine led all players with 18 points in the contest, while also grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Two other Mustangs managed to score in double-figures for Western as
Julia Curran dropped in 11 points and eight rebounds, while
Mackenzie Puklicz added 10 points and five steals in the loss.
Four Marauders hit double digits in the win, with Hilary Hanka leading the way with 16 points. Danielle Boiago followed with 13 points, while Claire Kenney and Rachael Holmes added 11 and 10 respectively.
The Marauders came out of the gate strong on Saturday, with their defensive intensity causing problems for the Mustangs offence. McMaster's depth was evident early in the game, substituting players in and out constantly and allowing the Marauders to keep up their high-energy defence to create 12 turnovers and end the quarter with a 21-8 lead.
McMaster extended their lead early in the second, going on a 13-3 run over the first three minutes of the frame. Both teams struggled to connect on the offensive end late in the quarter as both defences ramped up in the final minutes, with McMaster taking a 42-21 lead into halftime.
Western began to push the fast break to start the second half, matching the up-tempo style of McMaster. Unfortunately, turnovers continued to halt the momentum of the purple and white, making it difficult to spark a scoring run. The Marauders once again had some difficulty scoring from beyond the arc to end the quarter, but they would still find themselves with a 64-34 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter was somewhat of a different story for Western, as their zone defence began to disrupt McMaster's offence and force them into turnovers. The long-range shots began to drop for the purple and white late in the game to help cut down the deficit, but the Marauders lead was too much to overcome as McMaster walked away with the 82-54 victory.
