GUELPH, Ont. -  Once five gruelling days of competition concluded, and the final rock came to rest, the Queen's Gaels women's team were able to earn a spot at the U SPORTS national championship with an OUA silver medal performance.

The Gaels were pitted against the McMaster Marauders for the OUA championship but fell in a close decision 7-5 to finish with silver.

After Queen's was able to tie the game in the 5th with a pair, McMaster picked up a big three points in six, taking a 6-3 lead with only two ends to go. Despite Queen's being able to get two points back heading into the 8th, the Marauders hung on down the stretch to secure the championship win.

Queen's went 6-1 in pool play and defeated Waterloo and Guelph in the playoff rounds to get to the championship final. The men's team finished 5-2 in pool play but lost out to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the quarter-final round of playoffs.

The Gaels women will now get ready to head to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba for the U SPORTS Curling Championship to be played March 11-15. 

OUA ALL STAR AWARDS:

WOMEN

Lead- Kenna Bartlett (Queen's)
Second- Laura Masters (Waterloo)
Third- Kaelyn Gregory (McMaster)
Skip- Mary Fay (Queen's)

MEN

Lead- Colin Schnurr (Queen's)
Second- Jordie Lyon-Hatcher (Laurier)
Third- John Willsey (Laurier)
Skip- Cameron Goodkey (Carleton)