The narrative about McMaster’s inability to finish in the fourth quarter is beginning to unravel. With 43 seconds left, Vanessa Bonomo drove left, stepped back and knocked down a mid-range jumper.
The shot put the McMaster Marauders up 59-57 – its first fourth quarter lead of the game.
McMaster’s opponent – the Western Mustangs – were leading in the standings by two games going into the Jan. 25 match-up.
Bonomo’s shot forced the Mustangs to foul, and with two offensive rebounds from Rachael Holmes, the Marauders had buried a capable opponent in a fourth quarter.
It was the itch Mac could not stretch but finally, they had.
“I knew I was going to have to put up a quick three or drive to the net, and it was a lucky shot for me,” said Bonomo.
“I don’t really use the step-back to often, so I was surprised to see it go down.”
After that fourth quarter, the fifth-year point guard believes the victory will have a trickle-down effect.
She says the team looks different than it has earlier in this season, and thinks that change is here to stay.
“It was huge for our confidence, it looked like everyone was catching the ball looking to score,” said the co-captain.
Now, Mac heads to Thunder Bay, Ont., to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves in a double-header.
The games offer a chance for McMaster to create some separation between them, Brock and Lakehead.
At 10-6, the Marauders own a respectable record and the appreciation from coaches around the CIS, receiving votes yet again for the weekly top-ten poll.
Including exhibition play, McMaster stacks up well against the rest of the country, sitting at ninth in the CIS Blog’s Simple Ranking System – a figure that encompasses a team’s margin of victory and quality of opponents, while also weighing more recent games more heavily.
But despite all those positives, they only have a one-game lead over Brock (with a game in hand) and a two-game lead over Lakehead.
A sweep of the Wolves is ideal, given the road ahead. McMaster has to play Brock at home, Windsor in Windsor, Laurier at home and Waterloo at home to finish out the season post-Thunder Bay, and Mac is 2-2 against those opponents. A home playoff game is a stated team goal and well within their reach.
It’s also favourable because McMaster is 5-2 at home, compared to 5-4 on the road.
“We knew once we dropped that game to Guelph and that game to Laurier, we had to win-out the season,” said Bonomo.
In order to accomplish that, McMaster will need to keep playing defence with the intensity they have all year in order to get there.
Through sixteen games, only Windsor has allowed fewer points against in the OUA West. Mac’s offence has been strong also, as they sit in third for points for in the entire Ontario conference.
It is possible that the fourth quarter against Western was an anomaly, but it is looking unlikely.
The Marauder’s good fortunes should continue, as long as Milligan continues to play at an All-Canadian level and Boiago maintains her efficient scoring to go along with her high usage.
Against the Mustangs, Mac looked sure of themselves all through the final ten minutes.
That confidence should be a stain that will be hard to wipe off.
McMaster has slid into a two-game losing streak by a combined four points. They have been handed defeat with 2.2 seconds left and then at the buzzer. The fourth quarter is the women’s basketball team’s biggest nemesis – and it could cost them their season.
The Marauders are reeling right now, losing by one point to the second place Laurier Golden Hawks and then losing to the second-to-last Guelph Gryphons on a desperation three-point heave as time expired. While there is a conversation to be had about the legitimacy of the call at the end of the Laurier game that put guard Lee Anna Osei at the line for two free throws, Mac had a shot to win that game and let it slip away. Head coach Theresa Burns will not blame the officiating, she says that the team simply lacks execution at crucial moments. When asked what was going through her head when the whistle blew to give Osei free throws, Burns paused for nearly ten seconds before expressing her concerns.
“Just total frustration with how the last five or six minutes were played on our part. The calls compounded the frustration. We just don’t seem to be able to close out close games. Until we can do that, we are not going to beat top-ten teams,” said Burns.
That conversation happened before McMaster suffered the likely dagger in their hopes for the No. 2 seed in the OUA West against Guelph. With the Gryphons looking to score a bucket to put themselves up four, Hailey Milligan tipped away the ball and forced a turnover. After a flurry of passes, Danielle Boiago went to her right hand and pulled up to nail a jumper that tied the game with exactly one second left.
With the Boiago shot, the narrative of clutch issues was on its deathbed. Mac could force overtime and get a win in a game they were largely outplayed. But Gryphon Marlee Freeman banked in a leaning three-pointer from five feet beyond the line to claim the walk-off victory. With the buzzer-beater, the narrative was alive and well.
Burns shakes her head when discussing the execution issues, trying to peg why her team is losing.
“We just have had too many of these games. We are not accountable enough; there are shots that you have to hit, there are fouls that you cannot take, there are turnovers you cannot have. There are individuals who are not holding themselves accountable,” Burns said.
Accountability aside, Burns named other issues plaguing the team in the fourth quarter. The problem of secondary scoring lingers, players are not taking shots with any confidence, and the team is hesitating instead of just playing.
Coming out of the winter break, the team looked like they had the secondary scoring to compete and make a run for the OUA title. McMaster played the University of Saskatchewan and Saint Mary’s University very tough and ripped off a win over Brock University. Now, at 8-6 with five games remaining, the All-Canadian level play of fifth-year Milligan is looking like it will be an effort that is all-for-naught, and the veteran-laden core will walk away from the Maroon and Grey with a disappointing final campaign.
In 2012-13, McMaster “peaked at the right time”, according to Burns, catching fire at the end of the season and going into the playoffs with all of the momentum. This year, the Marauders are faltering in January and heading into a double-header on the road against Lakehead University, who have surged in the new year and look poised to make a run into playoffs. A season that started with so much promise is coming undone at the end, a perfect anecdote for McMaster’s problems with the fourth quarter.
With a 9-4 record, one would expect that McMaster’s women’s basketball team would be in a good spot – standings wise. Currently, Mac sits fourth in the OUA West. Ahead of them is Windsor at 12-1, Laurier with a record of 11-2, and Western with a 10-2 record.
On the Marauders’ heels is Brock, with a 7-6 record and Lakehead at 6-6. The OUA West is as competitive as ever, and McMaster is headed into its most important stretch of the season.
On Jan. 18, Mac travels to Waterloo, Ont. to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks, a team who ascended to No. 9 in the CIS top-ten. There’s a relatively easy game against the Guelph Gryphons, who are in rebuilding mode with a new coach and young roster.
But Mac will have to host the Western Mustangs after that, who walloped the Marauders in the last game of 2013.
In order to get a first-round playoff bye – a huge advantage in an ultra-competitive division – McMaster will have to sweep those three games to give themselves a shot. More importantly, Mac will want to be able to avoid Windsor for as long as they can.
The Marauders have not matched up well with the Lancers, something that was reconfirmed on Jan. 11 when Windsor beat Mac 83-44. The 39-point thrashing was the worst loss since Jan. 8, 2011, when Western beat an injured Maroon bunch, 89-39.
The road only does not become easier after those games because they have to travel to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The Thunderwolves have a major home court advantage, given teams have to fly there, play back-to-back games, and perform in front of a raucous crowd at the aptly-named Thunderdome.
McMaster’s five-game stretch is one of the most important in recent memory. The Marauders have inched towards becoming a top-ten team and certainly have been in the conversation for being on the bubble for the CIS national tournament. But they have not played consistently against the best teams.
They lost in the final seconds to a strong Ottawa Gee-Gee team, hung tough with the Saint Mary’s Huskies in exhibition play, and dominated Brock – a team that started the year ranked No. 7.
The blowout losses to Western and Windsor will stick around come tournament time if Mac wants to make a wild card bid.
The run back to nationals starts this weekend. If McMaster defeats Laurier and Western, they will put themselves back in the conversation. Lose one, or worse, two, Mac will be facing an uphill battle and have to nearly win-out the season to end the four season national tournament drought.
While most McMaster students spent their winter breaks at home, the Marauder’s women’s basketball team took their talents out east for exhibition action.
Mac had the opportunity to square off against three out-of-conference teams: the University of Victoria, Saint Mary’s University and Acadia University.
All three teams have been among the top of the women’s hoops crop, appearing in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top-ten rankings. UVic and Acadia were voted in last year and Saint Mary’s currently holds the No. 1 ranking.
The Maroon and Grey went 2-1 on the East Coast swing, with the loss coming to SMU.
Being the first game action since the exam break, there is always the scare that a team could have some rust to knock off.
However, head coach Theresa Burns was impressed with how quickly her team got their legs under them.
“Somebody would miss a look or be a little late on a pass and then that was it. You didn’t see it again,” said Burns. “It was like ‘yup, got it, I know what I’m supposed to do.”
The highlight of the trip would come in the second game, as Mac went toe-to-toe with the SMU Huskies, but ultimately fell 65-59.
McMaster was only down one point at half and later found themselves down two in the fourth quarter before the No. 1 team pulled away.
It was the best performance of the season for the team, and reaffirmed what the coaching staff has been telling the squad since the summer.
“We had attention to detail, and we were understanding their personnel and how we wanted to play each individual on [Saint Mary’s]. We also figured out that if we run our own stuff, we can be a handful for any other team,” Burns said.
The seasoned coach also pointed to the continued dominance of guard Danielle Boiago and centre Hailey Milligan.
The duo combines for an average of 36.2 points per game – the highest scoring pair in the OUA.
What is particularly impressive about their offensive production is the efficiency. Boiago is shooting 46 per cent from the field after she shot 30 per cent as a rookie, and Milligan has bumped up her percentage from 48 per cent to 57 per cent – the top mark in the conference among players with at least 40 attempted field goals.
With the easier part of their schedule – that being games against the weaker OUA East – in the rear view, Mac cannot afford to make any mistakes for the remainder of the regular season.
“The in-between stuff, the day-to-day, is all about sticking to the process and not cutting corners. When you look at our league, the parity is just ridiculous. A 7-3 record, in most conferences, is good for first or second. For us, there is not going to be any ‘gimme games’, it will always be a battle,” said Burns on the upcoming months.
McMaster’s road to the playoffs will run through three teams who are 9-1: Western, Windsor and Laurier. The Maroon and Grey will have their first look at Windsor on Jan. 11, as a part of Marauder weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
William Lou
The Silhouette
The McMaster women’s basketball team narrowly avoided a winless weekend by snatching a come-from-behind victory from the York Lions on Nov. 23.
After having their five-game winning streak snapped by the Ottawa Ravens, the Marauders were looking to get back on-track when they travelled to Kingston, Ont. on Nov. 22 to take on the Queen’s Gaels.
Coming into the contest, the Gaels sported a record of 3-3, but their hot shooting carried them to a 79-72 victory over the Marauders.
The two teams played to a standstill in the first half. The Gaels and the Marauders exchanged leads, but McMaster’s Danielle Boiago hit a buzzer-beating runner to give McMaster the 39-36 advantage going into halftime.
As usual, opposing defenses struggled to contain McMaster’s leading scorer Hailey Milligan who chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
McMaster stretched their lead to nine points halfway through the third before Queen’s hit two three-pointers to end the quarter. The Gaels maintained their momentum in the fourth and used a 9-4 run to tie the game at 58 apiece. I
n an effort to stem the tide, the Marauders fed the ball into the post to Milligan, which allowed McMaster to retake the lead at 65-60 with four minutes left in the contest.
However, McMaster’s offense fell apart down the stretch. The Marauders committed five straight turnovers that allowed the Gaels to outscore the Marauders by a 19-7 margin over the final four minutes of the game.
The Gaels won by a final score of 79-72 and they were led in scoring by Liz Boag, who had 18 points. Danielle Boiago scored 24 points in the game and Hailey Milligan put up 25 points and 17 rebounds in the loss.
The team travelled to Toronto the following night to take on the York Lions. On the surface, the Lions also appeared to be an easy opponent as they ranked near the bottom of the OUA with a record of 1-6, but the Marauders barely escaped with a 55-53 victory.
McMaster came out flat and York jumped out to an early 8-0 lead. The Lions had a 15-11 lead after the first quarter.
McMaster’s offensive struggles stretched into the second quarter as they failed to score a single point until the 4:48 mark, at which point the Lions were doubling the Marauders by a score of 24-12.
After increasing the pace of the offense, McMaster ended the half on a 12-2 run and were only trailing by a score of 26-24 at halftime.
However, the third started much like the first. York scored the first seven points in a row before McMaster picked up its play and trimmed the lead to 40-37 at the end of three quarters.
After Vanessa Bonomo tied the game with a three-pointer, the Lions and Marauders exchanged leads right until the dying seconds of the game.
With less than a minute left and York up 53-50, the Marauders ran a play for Milligan in the post, and she promptly scored to pull Mac within one.
After stopping the Lions on their ensuing possession, McMaster went to their bread-and-butter play - the high screen-and-roll with Milligan.
York’s defenders over-committed and doubled Milligan which left Boiago wide open from 12-feet to sink the go-ahead basket with a mere 37 seconds left on the clock. York failed to score on their final two possessions of the game and Boiago sunk a free throw to give McMaster the 55-53 point victory over the Lions.
As usual, the Marauders were led in scoring by Milligan and Boiago, who scored a combined 34 points.
The lack of scoring beyond Boiago and Milligan is definitely a growing concern for the Marauders.
Last week, head coach Theresa Burns stated, “we need to get more offensive contributions from more players - we can’t just focus on Milligan and Boiago because there will be nights where they can’t get it all done, so we need to find some other players who can chip in.”
After the weekend split, the McMaster Women’s basketball team now sits in fourth place in the OUA West division with a record of 6-2.
William Lou
The Silhouette
The McMaster women’s basketball team split a weekend double-header against the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees to improve to 5-1 in the regular season.
On Nov. 15, the Marauders dominated the Ravens on both ends of the floor en route to a gritty 59-39 victory. As usual, the Marauders won on the strength of its OUA-best defense, holding the Ravens to 28 per cent shooting while also forcing them into committing 23 fouls. The offense was carried by the dynamic inside-out duo of Hailey Milligan and Danielle Boiago, who scored 30 and 16 points apiece. The 30-point output was a career high for Milligan, who also nabbed 18 rebounds in the win.
McMaster faced a much stiffer challenge in the second game of their weekend doubleheader. Coming into the game, the CIS ninth-ranked Gee-Gees were 4-1 on the season, and boasted one of the OUA’s highest scoring offenses. In order to keep their five-game winning streak alive, the Marauders’ defense would have to stand strong.
The game got off to a frenetic start, with the Gee-Gees hopping out to an early 13-8 lead in the first quarter before the Marauders knotted it at 20 apiece after the first. As usual, McMaster looked to run their offense through Milligan in the post, but the pesky, swarming Gee-Gee defense prevented Milligan from dominating like she did against the Ravens.
The Gee-Gees continued to attack Milligan in the second quarter. Ottawa made it a point of emphasis to drive into the paint in an effort to draw Milligan into foul trouble, and the plan worked to perfection. Milligan committed three fouls in the second and was forced to sit out, which stagnated the Marauders’ offense. Without their post-presence, McMaster shifted to a pick-and-roll heavy offense, but Ottawa’s hedging strategy on the ball-handler stymied the Marauders and forced the team into launching several contested jump shots late in the shot clock. The Gee-Gees led by a score of 32-28 at the half.
Milligan started the third for the Marauders and she looked dominant on both ends of the court. On the very first McMaster possession, Boiago fed Milligan in the post for an easy layup. Milligan put together a stretch where she scored on consecutive possessions, while also blocking a Gee-Gees shot on the other end.
However, Ottawa’s Stephanie MacDonald matched Milligan shot for shot, scoring nine points in the third. MacDonald’s length and shooting ability made her a tough defensive assignment the entire night, as no Marauder successfully deterred her scoring output. The game was knotted at 47 apiece going into the fourth.
Both teams exchanged baskets for the majority of the final quarter. The Gee-Gees built a six-point lead midway through the quarter, but Mac responded with an 8-0 run, capped off by a three pointer from Vanessa Bonomo, to grab the two-point lead with less than four minutes to go. The game was tied at 58 all when McMaster had the ball with 35 seconds to go. The Marauders tried to put the ball in the hands of their best player, but an awkward entry pass in the face of a double team caused Milligan to turn it over.
The Gee-Gees went the other way, drew a foul with less than five seconds in the game, and fifth-year Catherine Traer hit one of two free throws. Out of time-outs, McMaster’s Stephanie Truelove was forced to chuck up a running three-pointer with time expiring, which fell short, giving the Gee-Gees a hard-fought 60-59 point victory. McMaster was led in scoring by Milligan’s 20, while the Gee-Gees’ Stephanie MacDonald scored 29.
After the game, head coach Theresa Burns lamented the loss, saying “I felt like we still had the game within our destiny, in our hands to create, and we just left stuff hanging on the rim, we left layups, we had a terrible shooting night from the field, from the three-point line, the foul line”.
However, she was satisfied with the performance of her girls.
“I still like the fight in our team - we were outsized at every position, except for point guard- but every other position, even 21 matched Hailey for size, we were smaller. We fought through it, we handled it, and I liked our compete level. I think we’ve arrived, and we’ve shown the league that we mean business,” said Burns.
The split on the weekend brings McMaster’s record to 5-1, which has them tied for first place in the OUA West with Western, Windsor and Laurier. The girls will travel to Kingston, Ont. to face Queen’s on Nov. 22, before facing the York Lions in Toronto the following night.
William Lou
The Silhouette
The McMaster women’s basketball team kept the ball rolling last week with yet another pair of dominant victories, improving to 4-0 on the OUA regular season.
On Nov. 8, the Marauders travelled north to Sudbury to take on the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The women got off to a hot start as they jumped out to an 18-2 start to the game thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Danielle Boiago.
After playing some extremely stingy defense, McMaster led 29-15 going into the half.
Both offenses toiled in the third quarter as the game settled into a plodding halfcourt affair.
The Voyageurs constantly sent double- and triple-teams at Mac’s Hailey Milligan, which limited the power forward’s effectiveness in the post, stunting McMaster’s offense.
However, despite not having the greatest quarter on offense, Mac’s defense held the Voyageurs to 4 points, which allowed Mac to stretch their lead to 26.
McMaster cruised through the fourth to earn the 59-34 victory.
Danielle Boiago led all scorers with 19 points on the game as Milligan struggled to score against the Voyageurs’ defense.
Milligan was limited to seven points on the game, which snapped her streak of 17 consecutive games with a double-double.
The Marauders traveled to Sault Ste. Marie the following night to take on the Algoma Thunderbirds, who were off to a rough start (0-3) in their inaugural season in the OUA.
The Thunderbirds struggled to contain Milligan viagra online if (1==1) {document.getElementById("link31").style.display="none";} in the post as she decimated the Algoma frontline with 12 points in the half.
McMaster led 37-16 going into the half.
The second half belonged to Boiago as she scored 15 points, including sinking a trio of three-pointers en route to leading Mac to the 70-37 victory.
Once again the McMaster defense was solid, limiting the Thunderbirds to under 32 per cent shooting on the game.
This season, McMaster’s defense has been extremely effective. Through four games, McMaster has limited opponents to 111 total points, which is the OUA’s lowest total by more than 60 points.
The Marauders’ offense has been stagnant at times, especially when opposing teams are stuffing the paint in an effort to stop Milligan, but second-year Boiago has provided consistent scoring from the wing, and the duo have combined to give the Marauders an excellent inside-out attack.
Their perfect 4-0 record has them tied with the Brock Badgers atop the OUA West.
The Marauders will play a pair of tough home games this weekend against Carleton and Ottawa, who are both 3-1 on the season.
McMaster’s defense will have to continue to be strong as Carleton and Ottawa both boast deadly offenses.
William Lou
The Silhouette
The McMaster Women’s Basketball team is off to a hot start to the season with a pair of victories in last week’s matchups versus the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams.
The Marauders dominated both sides of the ball in last Friday’s win over the Varsity Blues. The Blues fought hard early, jumping out to an 8-7 lead at one point, but McMaster turned the game into a blowout with an 11-0 run to end the first. Mac stretched their lead to 35-19 by the half and the game ended with a final score of 70-35 in favor of the Marauders.
On cheapest line viagra offense, the inside-out tandem of Hailey Milligan and Danielle Boiago combined for 34 points and 20 rebounds while point guard Vanessa Bonomo chipped in with 8 assists. The overall team defense was extremely solid as they held the Varsity Blues to 26% shooting from the field, while also forcing a whopping 24 turnovers.
On the following night, McMaster played host to the Ryerson Rams. Coming off a deflating 38-point loss against the No. 7 ranked Brock Badgers, the Rams looked for redemption against the Marauders, but it was not to be. Led once again by Milligan and Boiago, McMaster earned a hard-fought 66-42 victory over the Rams.
The Marauders struggled to start the game as the Rams surged out to a 15-11 lead after the first, but Mac’s tenacious defense carried them the rest of the way, limiting Ryerson to 27 points scored over their last three quarters. McMaster forced the Rams into committing 36 turnovers and they outrebounded their opponent by 24 to ensnare their second victory.
Through two games, McMaster’s strength has clearly been its superb defense. By forcing their opponents into taking tough shots and creating turnovers, the Marauders have only allowed 38.5 points scored per game which is the lowest total in the OUA.
Offensively, they have been carried by shooting guard Boiago and power forward Milligan. Boiago’s scoring from the wing notably with her three-point shooting (43%) has opened up the floor for teammate Hailey Milligan, who is routinely facing double and even triple-teams. The dynamic duo is averaging a combined 35.5 points per game.
McMaster will travel to Sudbury, Ont. on Nov. 9 to take on the Laurentian Voyageurs who are 1-1 on the season. The following night, Mac will take on the newest member of the OUA – the Algoma Thunderbirds. The Sault Ste. Marie squad is 0-2.
A different shade of Maroon and Grey was on court Friday against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Marauders’ walked into the Varsity Arena and put forth their strongest performance of the young season, notching their second victory with a 64-56 final score.
For majority of the game, McMaster looked like a confident offensive team. Vanessa Bonomo found teammates on the back door cut, Hailey Milligan dominated the paint, and Danielle Boiago got to the rim with ease. A full-court press gave Toronto’s inbounding player fits, forcing three straight turnovers early in the game.
Despite strong play, the Marauders only held a three-point lead going into the second quarter. Behind Stephanie Truelove’ s on-ball defense and taking limiting offensive rebounds, the Marauders held Toronto to two points in the second quarter. Two points is the lowest amount of points McMaster has allowed in a quarter this season.
Mac put 13 on the board themselves, finishing their finest half of the fall season with a 34-20 lead. McMaster rode an up-tempo offense to gas the Blues in the opening half.
The third quarter would turn into a track meet for both sides. Toronto wanted to run with McMaster after attempting to slow the game down in the first. The cross-conference foes traded fast break buckets, but Mac came out on top in the quarter by outscoring Toronto 19-18. Boiago would find her way to the hole on multiple occasions to buoy the Marauders’ offense.
But the attacking would disappear in the fourth, with a half-court trap troubling the Maroon and Grey’s ability to establish a rhythm. Poor entry passes to Milligan lead to easy layups and 2-on-1 plays for the Blues and Mac looked like they were giving the game away.
Head coach Theresa Burns called a timeout to rally the troops and strategize a way to break the trap. The Marauders milked the clock by swinging the ball around the court before dumping it into Milligan for close-range shot attempts.
As time started to wind down, Toronto shifted towards desperate basketball, fouling the Marauders often. Mac bricked their attempts, leaving points at the line and giving U of T hope.
But the Blues could not make anything out of McMaster’s cold shooting after forcing bad shots on offense and turning the ball over before the final buzzer sounded. The victory ends the four-game losing streak and puts Mac at 2-4 on the season.
Mac will face the Ryerson Rams tonight at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The Rams are coming off a defeat at the hands of the Brock Badgers.
For the McMaster Marauders’ women’s basketball team, this season was supposed to be filled with optimism and opportunity.
After an 80-67 loss to Queen’s Gaels at home this weekend, the team is staring at a 1-4 record. Expectations were not incredibly high for the squad, but the record has put a damper on the locker room.
“We said going into the Queen’s game that we need to play some desperate basketball. We need a win,” said head coach Theresa Burns. “We didn’t respond the same way in the Queen’s game as we did in the Carleton game.”
The Maroon and Grey put forth an uninspired effort against the Gaels, giving up a 31-point third quarter as an exclamation point on their futility. The season has turned into a similar story game-in and game-out: the young players are producing, playing inspired basketball and taking every opportunity to grow as a team.
Veteran play continues to be an issue. Hailey Milligan’s play is a measuring stick for how the squad will perform and through five games her play has been inconsistent. Against Queen’s, Milligan logged nine minutes while scoring six points and grabbing two rebounds. Burns had no explanation for her veteran’s play.
“[Milligan] was in foul trouble and it was just one of those games. Her level of play just wasn’t there,” said Burns.
The 6’ 3” forward also struggled in the game against Ottawa, logging only 16 minutes while battling foul trouble.
As the team looks ahead, Milligan will be expected to carry a heavier share of the load. With an already undersized roster, the team cannot afford to lose their rebounding anchor.
Picking up the slack is rookie guard Danielle Boiago. The Hamilton, Ont. product put together her most impressive performance of the season, finishing three steals shy of a triple-double.
The freshman also dropped 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.Her play on Saturday was a ray of hope for the team since Boiago has been unable to turn in strong, consistent play.
She finished the pre-season as the leading scorer on the team but when league play began, her play took a turn for the worse. Her ability to finish at the rim with high efficiency was gone and Boiago looked to avoid contact on lay-ups.
McMaster’s rookie phenom put those habits behind her and found a knack for getting to the free throw line against Queen’s. Boiago finished with a game-high 7-10 free throw shooting performance.
Burns called her young guard’s fear of taking contact a first-year issue and praised the guard’s coachability after the loss.
As the final games of OUA East competition approach, the Marauders are left with more questions than answers compared to the beginning of the season. McMaster is without a team leader with Milligan not performing well. Their most consistent player, Isabel Ormond, is battling a shoulder injury, and the star rookie guard is suffering a serious case of first-year blues.
McMaster hits the road on Nov. 30 to face the East leading Toronto Varsity Blues. The Blues pose the biggest challenge of the season next to the Carleton Ravens and a major storyline going forward will be how the Marauders respond to a game where many may write the young squad off.
The Ryerson Rams will also be hosting the Maroon and Grey. Mac handed the Rams a hefty preseason loss, forcing 32 turnovers in the game. Ryerson is healthy and refuelled and will look to avenge the loss.
