TORONTO – They cut the lead down to four multiple times in the waning moments of the game, but in the end the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's basketball team couldn't overcome a tough third quarter in a 73-66 loss to the McMaster Marauders in U SPORTS semifinals action.

"We shot the ball less efficiently than we normally do… and that was the difference," said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis. "I thought we gave Sarah Gates too many looks at the rim, but other than that I thought we defended the three pretty well, we had more shots than them and more offensive rebounds so in a lot of statistical categories we were looking okay."
 
While the loss ends the Huskies run toward a second-straight appearance in the national championship game, they will still play one final contest in 2018-19 when they battle for bronze tomorrow afternoon in Toronto.
 
Summer Masikewich was named the Huskies' player of the game, finishing the night with 21 points and 12 rebounds while playing every minute of the game. Another ever-present Huskie was Sabine Dukate who scored 17 points. Megan Ahlstrom finished just one point shy of the double-double recording nine points and 10 boards.

Sarah Gates led the Marauders with 21 points while Hilary Hanaka added 19.
 
A game tied 33-33 at the half was broken open by the Marauders midway through the third quarter. Keyed by forcing turnovers on the defensive end, McMaster went on a 14-6 run to widen what was a five-point lead all the way to 12 entering the fourth and final quarter.
 
Masikewich was on a mission in the fourth however, scoring 11 of her 21 points in the final 10 minutes of action. Putting up seven points on three-straight possessions, the third year from Calgary helped the Huskies claw their way back to a 69-64 deficit late in the game. With just under a minute left to play A massive three-point shot from Dukate made it a four-point deficit, but the Marauders were on fire from the line, hitting nearly every shot they took from the charity stripe down the stretch. In the end that clutch shooting from McMaster allowed them to hold off the Huskies for the seven-point victory.
 
This marks the fifth time in the last six years that the Huskies will play for a U SPORTS medal. They will take on either the Ottawa Gee-Gees or the Laval Rouge et Or tomorrow, March 10 at 1 p.m. (CST). That game can be watched online at usports.live