Thursday, November 12th 2009

By Brian Decker

With a mix of youth and experience, the McMaster women’s basketball team kicked off its conference season in style this past weekend, sweeping a Kingston road trip with victories over the Royal Military College Paladins and the Queen’s Gaels.

Veteran guard Taylor Smith (Hamilton, ON) and rookie forward Nicole Rosenkranz (Niagara Falls, ON) led the Marauders to the two-win weekend. Smith, a fifth year Marauder in her final season of eligibility, and Rosenkranz, a 6’ rookie, come from opposite ends of the spectrum, but are both key components of the McMaster squad.

“Taylor’s our leader on and off the court,” said Head Coach Theresa Burns of Smith, a 2008-2009 first team All-Star. “When she’s on the court, everybody settles down and the team has absolute trust right from the coaching staff through every player on the bench.”

“[Nicole’s] got a natural instinct for the ball, she’s just a ball magnet… she’s got great instincts around the hoop, finishes well and has a soft touch,” Burns said of Rosenkranz.

The Gaels made life difficult for the Marauders on Saturday night, riding big performances from guards Katie Guthrie (Orillia, ON) and Brittany Moore (Hannon, ON). The two scored 30 and 24 points respectively, and hit all seven of the Gaels’ three pointers.

The Marauders locked down on Guthrie in the fourth, however, limiting her to zero points in the final period and forcing her to put the ball in the hands of the Gaels’ less experienced supporting cast.

With the game tied at 66 with just over 90 seconds remaining, Rosenkranz made a difficult pass in the paint to third year forward Taylor Chiarot (Hamilton, ON), who converted an even more difficult finish while being fouled.

The basket and subsequent foul shot gave the Marauders a three-point lead, and after veteran guard Rebecca Rewi (Ancaster, ON) drew a charge on the next Queen’s possession, the game was in hand for the maroon and grey.

“We just put a lot more focus on our defensive end and were a lot more committed to running our break and getting scoring chances,” said Burns. “Everybody was more focused on turning up the intensity a little bit.”

Rosenkranz and Chiarot proved to be a potent combo in the paint, creating a number of scoring chances for each other with unselfish and creative passing. Rosenkranz led the Marauders with 21 points on the night, while Chiarot poured in 17.

“It’s a match-up problem, because if you put your best D on one of them, the other one’s gonna kill you,” Burns said of the tough time opposing teams will have defending Mac’s frontcourt duo.

One night earlier, the Marauders took a preemptive strike and built a double-digit lead before the Paladins knew what hit them. Rewi and veteran forward Lisa Marie Iavarone (Hamilton, ON) each scored 18 points on the way to an 81-43 blowout.

McMaster led 27-1 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, virtually deciding the game in the opening minutes. Mac shot a blistering 67 percent from the field in the first half, and never gave the Paladins a chance to even think about winning.

Rosenkranz scored 15 points in just 10 minutes of action, coming off a bout with the flu. Smith posted an 11 point, six assist, five rebound performance in controlling the McMaster offence.

The Marauders’ next action takes place on Friday night against the Toronto Varsity Blues, followed by a Saturday night match up with the Ryerson Rams. Both games take place at 6 p.m. in the Burridge Gym.

Tags: Basketball, Lisa-Marie Iavarone, Nicole Rosenkranz, Rebecca Rewi, Taylor Chiarot, Taylor Smith, women's basketball