LONDON, Ont. - Matteke Hutzler (Napanee, Ont.) scored a game-high 28 points and added eight rebounds as the Western Mustangs edged the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) Jaguars 65-62 at Alumni Hall on Wednesday afternoon.

With the win, Western improves its preseason record to 1-1 after falling to the Jaguars (NCAA Division I) 65-61 a night earlier.

Fifth-year forward Hutzler of Napanee, Ont., had 22 of her points in the second half and led with heart according to head coach Stephan Barrie, who picked up his first coaching win over an NCAA Division 1 school.

"Muddy led the way in that capacity. She showed energy and leadership, and that was huge for us," Barrie said.

Hutzler was 11/16 from the floor and 6/10 from the line. She added one block and two assists.

Despite being outrebounded for the second straight game, Western managed to improve their shooting and focused on working the ball inside. While Barrie was pleased with the win, he said the Mustangs still have a lot to work on.

"We had to adjust our game to play bigger and to focus more on the inside game," Barrie said. "And we're going to have to adjust throughout the season according to who we are playing. Today we had to score inside. That was our focus point and to keep doing it through the game."

Western outscored a smaller but gritty IUPUI squad 26-22 in the paint.

"It wasn't executed," Barrie said of the inside game-plan. "It's the small details. We're still late with some of our post-entries and we're not seeing open looks. We're seeing times when we're shooting yet there's an open look and we shouldn't be shooting."

"We're not anywhere near where we need to be execution-wise."

Freshman guard Laura Dally of Sarnia, Ont., added 12 points and an assist along with five steals, while Jenny Vaughan of Dundas, Ont., had three assists and six steals.

Gretchen Gaskin led the Jaguars in scoring with 17 points, adding six rebounds, but for the second straight game it was Kerah Nelson who showed the strongest effort with a double-double (16 pts, 10 rebounds) along with five steals.

The two teams combined for 48 turnovers in a scrappy, fast-paced game which featured 13 lead changes.
"We responded well to not playing tough enough yesterday," Barrie said. "I think that's what won us the game - toughness and heart."

The Mustangs trailed early, but led 16-14 after the opening quarter. The Jaguars fought back in the second quarter to lead 30-26 at the half.

The Jaguars ran into foul trouble. Forward Clara Mitchell fouled out midway through the third quarter, while Nelson, Del'Niqua Bellamy, Jasmine Horen and Janna Eichelberger fouled out late in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Jaguars played the final 24 seconds with only four runners without any eligible players to sub back into the game.

Next up, Western hosts Tennessee-Martin on Saturday Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. at Thames Hall before hosting Eastern Michigan twice, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. at Thames Hall.