McMaster continues to impress in preseason

The McMaster women’s basketball team continued to impress this weekend, notching a 79-54 win over the Calgary-based Mount Royal Cougars here in the Burridge Gym.

            It was a game that saw Mac dominance throughout, with the Marauders employing a highly effective trap defense to force a total of 33 Mount Royal turnovers. The team used its speed to capitalize on every opportunity, leading to a plethora of fast-break points.

            Among the many storylines that came from this game was the career high 28-point performance by McMaster second-year forward Isabel Ormond. It was clear from early in the game that she would have a standout performance, scoring 10 of the Marauders’ first 14 points.

            The Cougars would rally to end the first quarter down 14-15, but the second quarter was where the Maroon and Grey really shined.

            The Marauders opened the frame with a quick basket by veteran point guard Vanessa Bonomo, which was followed quickly by an energy-boosting three-pointer from rookie Danielle Boiago. Bonomo and Boiago would continue to dominate on both sides of the court, forcing a multitude of turnovers and executing perfect passes to help swell Mac’s lead.

            The Marauders’ lockdown defensive play helped raise their lead to double-digits, with the majority of their points coming from full-court passes off of hard-earned turnovers. The team even forced a rare eight-second backcourt violation, with the Cougars simply unable to find their way out of the full-court press.

             A halftime lead of 44-27 was only the beginning for McMaster. The third quarter saw another increase in their lead as the women’s squad continued to apply tremendous defensive pressure to a hapless Mount Royal team.

            The fourth quarter began with a score of 65-38, and opened with a quality pick-and-roll between Vanessa Bonomo and centre Hailey Milligan, leading to a crowd-energizing and-one.

            Mac faced a real scare, however, when Bonomo fell to the ground while fighting her way through traffic in the offensive zone. She was unable to stand up and left the game with an ankle injury. Bonomo’s inability to play would adversely affect the team, as her play-making abilities and solid defensive presence have both been major factors in the team’s success thus far.

            Bonomo’s injury allowed rookie guard and last week’s Athlete of the Week Danielle Boiago to step up her game during the fourth quarter. She hit a couple of big-time shots from beyond the arc and made quality passes, finishing the game with 17 points and seven assists.

            By the final buzzer, Mac retained a solid 25-point lead, beating the Cougars by a score of 79-54.

In their second game of the weekend, McMaster played hosts to the Acadia women’s basketball team this past Saturday in Burridge Gym. Despite an early lead by Acadia, the Maroon and Grey handed the Acadia Axewomen a 79-73 defeat after four intense quarters of basketball.

After previous game action loss against University of Victoria, the Marauders had to shake it off and rally together to ensure they would come out on top against Acadia. Despite the fast pace of the game early on for the Marauders, Acadia responded well by outscoring them in the first quarter 23-14.

Second quarter proved to pay off in favourr of the Marauders, as their defensive performance was outstanding. They were able to hold off the Axewomen to just seven points and managed to score 19 points of their own in the process. The Marauders continued to overpower Acadia as the game continued, heading into halftime with a 33-30 lead over the Axewomen.

In the previous game against Victoria, the third quarter was Mac’s downfall. But the women proved that this was just a one time thing as the Marauder contingent showed an amazing response to the three point margin.

The Marauders began the second half of the game with strong play topropelled their lead further, giving a 55-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

Acadia picked up the pace in the fourth quarter, trying to cut the McMaster lead. But the Marauders proved to be in control of the game as they maintained their lead and held on for the remaining minutes to pull out the win.

Isabel Ormond of the McMaster Marauders had a break-out game as she was the leading scorer for the Maroon squad, putting up 16 points in the game. Danielle Boiago and Vanessa Bonomo also put forth a great effort for the Marauders each putting up 15 points.