HAMILTON, Ont. - With the final result coming in the dying seconds for a second consecutive game, Laurier narrowly came out on the losing end again, this time to the McMaster Marauders, 70-68.

Looking to bounce back in their second game of the weekend on Sunday afternoon at the Burridge Gym, the Golden Hawks were paced offensively from the opening tip by forward Kate White.

After posting a career-high 25 points on Friday at York, the Golden Hawks veteran had eight points in the opening frame to help the purple and gold build a 15-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

McMaster's Cassandra Joli-Cour countered with eight points of her own in leading the home side.

The second quarter saw Laurier gain further momentum, with Brittyn Graves and Cassidy Hirtle providing consistent scoring, with nine and seven points, respectively, along with defensive stops.

A 9-2 Laurier run to end the half gave the Golden Hawks a 40-32 lead at the break, with solid contributions from their bench and clutch rebounding as well; owning the glass with a 10-4 advantage.

Laurier extended their lead to their biggest of the game at 10 in the third quarter, with White again shouldering the load with nine of the team's 12 points.

McMaster tried to claw back, led by Frankovic's second-chance points and Joli-Cour's consistent shooting, but Laurier's defence held firm.

Despite McMaster's efforts, Laurier maintained a 52-47 lead at the end of three after White hit a crucial three-pointer - her third of the game.

The final quarter was Laurier's undoing though as McMaster closed the gap with a 15-4 run in a span of 4:20 in the middle of the frame to take their first lead since early in the second.  

Joli-Cour recorded another 17 points in the fourth alone to finish with a game-high 41.

Despite their shooting dipping below 32%, Laurier held a one-point lead with 25 seconds left in regulation.

With possession off their inbounds play, the Marauders capitalized on a size mismatch with Joli-Cour dropping a floater from just inside the foul line to give McMaster a one-point advantage.

Having worked their way to the Marauder's side of half and coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left, the Golden Hawks' ensuing inbound pass was stolen by Deanna Mataseje, which resulted in a foul call as McMaster ran up the floor on the turnover.

After Amy Stinson's converted free throw gave McMaster a one-possession lead at 70-68, an end-to-end push up the floor by Hirtle with 5.7 seconds remaining resulted in a missed lay-up attempt, putting the game on ice.

White's 10 points aside, just three Golden Hawks combined to record six points down the home stretch.

For the second game in a row, the biology major from Bolton, Ont. set a new career best with 30 points on 11 for 17 shooting in 30 minutes of action.

Graves narrowly missed recording a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Hirtle finished with 14 points and six boards.

Up Next

The Golden Hawks take on last year's OUA semifinalists, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, at the Laurier Athletic Complex Gym for their home opener on Friday, November 1 at 6 pm. Tickets are available now!

Fans can also catch the game live on OUA.tv and updates at @WLUAthletics on X.