For the first time ever, the McMaster women’s basketball team have brought the Bronze Baby home.
It has been a long time coming for Burns, but so worth the wait. The head coach has been with the Marauders for the last 29 years and has yet to win it all like she did this past weekend.
Ending the regular season 21-3, the Marauders turned up the intensity and remained undefeated in the postseason. For Burns, competing and winning at this level was something the team knew they could do from before the season even started.
"We believed we could do it. It's been the mindset all year,” said Burns. “Then, as the year went on and we continued to build, we got better as it went."
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="254" gal_title="Womens Basketball National Championship"]
The U Sports women’s basketball Final 8 festivities kicked off with the annual All-Canadian gala. McMaster veteran Hilary Hanaka made Mac proud, taking home the Sylvia Sweeney Award for Student-Athlete Community Service for her outstanding contributions both on and off the court.
Hanaka is well known for her leadership on the court, but off the court, her work with McMaster Athletes Care, Varsity Leadership Council, McMaster Women’s Athletic Leadership Council, Neighbourhood Hoops Program, Flamborough Fire basketball and St. Mary’s Catholic High School, all contributed in her earning the honour. The All-Canadian was also named a U Sports Second Team All-Star that night.
With the awards wrapped up, the Marauders hit the court for the first game of the tournament, a quarter-final matchup against the Concordia University Stingers. Mac superstar Sarah Gates put up a career high of 32 points and the Marauders took down the Stingers in a dominant 86-68 victory.
Next, McMaster faced the third-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies, advancing to the final game with a 73-66 win. When Laval defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 60-56 in their own semifinal game, the stage for finals was set.
🚺🏀 | @McMasterSports head coach Theresa Burns shares her thoughts on what today’s historic semifinal victory meant to her team and her program as a whole. #ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/31BW7KrE76
— U SPORTS Basketball (@USPORTS_Bball) March 9, 2019
Heading into nationals, the Rouge et Or were ranked number one due to their nearly perfect season, with only one loss to McGill University, while the Marauders ranked second. With the story of Laval’s Khaléann Caron-Goudreau’s journey airing on Sportsnet’s pregame, it was very clear who the favourite was perceived to be. Yet, quickly after the whistle blew, it was obvious that the Marauders were not ready to go home without what they came for.
The first quarter was low scoring, as not only were both the Marauders and the Rouge et Or playing strong defense, but they also struggled to hit wide-open shots. By the end of the first quarter, Mac was up 11-10, but that was the last time that they would lead the game until the third quarter.
Sarah-Jane Marois of Laval got hot in the second quarter, finding and making shots to help Laval lead at the half, contributing 13 points in the quarter. The impact of Marois’ ability to hit shots that both teams struggled with earlier made the Marauders head into the half down 27-33.
“The game plan is to always be as tough as we can be defensively, stay positive, and no matter what happens, you just keep picking each other up and good things will happen,” Burns said. “They’re just so resilient. We’re playing a good team, we’re playing No.1 in the country, so they’re going to get their runs, they’re going to score. But when we bent we didn’t break.”
The thing about bending is that there is always a snapback, and snapback they did. Coming into the third regrouped and focused, the Marauders began to play at a different level. Linnaea Harper started off the third quarter strong with a three, followed by a Gates’ layup that helped the Marauders cut the lead to 33-32 in the first minute.
Mac led again for the first time since the first in the third quarter, thanks to consistency from Gates, Harper, Hanaka and most importantly, Christina Buttenham. Buttenham, who went on to be named the player of the game, contributed both offensively and defensively for the team throughout the entire matchup. Buttenham had 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks that left her grinning from ear to ear.
Ensuring the Marauders would not fall behind again, Buttenham not only stole the ball but scored off a rebound, helping the Marauders go into the fourth 44-44. Starting the fourth from the free-throw line, the Marauders led throughout. But it was the laugh from regularly composed head coach Burns after Harper’s off-balance shot gave Mac a 10-point lead that made the Marauders and fans watching know that they had sealed the deal.
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Not only did the women’s team make Marauder history, they finally were able to give Burns the one thing she has been chasing for 29 years.
“To be able to do this after five years, in my last year is so amazing,” said Harper, the tournament’s most valuable player. “This also means the world to [coach Burns] she’s been doing this for 25-plus years, and to finally make it to the National Championship and win, we’re so happy to do this for her.”
Harper and Gates both contributed 18 points while the eldest Hanaka brought in 12. Laval may have had the U Sports Player of the Year Marois on their side, but the Marauders beat the odds and reminded us exactly what hard work can do.
🏆CHAMPIONS🏆
Women’s Final 8️⃣: @McMasterSports ⛹️♀️ wins their first 🏆 title 🥳
Le 8️⃣ Ultime ⛹️♀️ : Premier titre national pour les Marauders de McMaster 👏
🔗 EN: https://t.co/griQQinYgH // 🔗 FR: https://t.co/NehCE8xrll#ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/jEI5IAhAX3
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 11, 2019
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By: Graham West
Heading out to Kingston for this year’s provincial playoffs, Andrew Richards and the McMaster men’s volleyball team went up against the University of Windsor for their 15th-straight provincial semifinal appearance, and won, advancing to the finals.
Unfortunately, their championship bid ultimately fell short, suffering a heartbreaking loss to the hosting Queen’s University Gaels. Although the men’s six-year dynasty was broken, getting to the finals means they also have a spot in the national championship tournament, where they have another chance to go on the court and show everyone why they deserve to be there.
As regular members of the Ontario University Athletics Final Four under head coach Dave Preston for almost two decades, the team has certainly solidified a strong culture of winning. Although, even with prolific numbers and success, Richards says this doesn’t play into their mindset, and that they choose to look at the season on a game-by-game basis.
“Whether it’s a lot of times hosting in a row, or a lot of times being in the Final Four in a row, I think our program does a really good job of not thinking about that too much,” Richards said. “We don't get too far into that because at the end of the day, it doesn’t help us perform on the court. The group this year is really tight and we’re really good at understanding that when we’re on the floor, all that matters is how we can help each other, compete hard and enjoy ourselves.”
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The love of the game is one of the biggest factors for the team’s prolific success. Even so much as just being on the court means a lot to Richards and his teammates, making them fierce competitors as not many teams can match their passion.
“I think we’re lucky as student-athletes to even be able to play volleyball for McMaster,” Richards said. “So for us, we’re just thankful to play and have fun, and I know our hard work and all of our training throughout the year will help us get to where we need to go.”
Even though the team did ultimately lose in the finals, it’s only a roadblock on their way to taking on nationals, which has been a big focus for the team all year.
“I’ve found over my four years that the next two weeks happen really fast, so I think it’s easiest to break it up and take it game by game and enjoy things while you can,” Richards said. “Our team has higher goals than just provincials, so for us, it’s going to be crucial to refocus after every match.”
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Richards emphasized the role that team chemistry plays in the success of the team, especially when it comes to being able to pick each other up when things are down. This is mostly due to the fact that the team is so close and knows each other so well. This is a key reason why they are such a tough group to get through for any competitor.
“Over my years here at Mac, we’re one of the tighter teams,” Richards said. “It’s easy for teams to play well and feel good about themselves when things are going well on the court and you’re winning, but I think when it really comes in handy to have a tight team and work through things together is when things aren’t going well.”
By earning a spot in the provincial finals, the Marauders have also clinched a place at the national championships. The men’s volleyball team will be one to watch during the national championships as they look to make a huge statement after provincials and certainly have the potential to take home the national gold.
On March 15 at 6:00 p.m., the No. 7 Marauders will take on the No. 2 Trinity Western University Spartans to kick-off the U Sports Final Eight. The Spartans are also coming off a provincial silver medal, losing to No. 1 Brandon University in the Canada West Championship.
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