LONDON, Ont. - Appropriately on Seniors Night, Western Mustangs career scoring leader and fifth-year senior Amanda Anderson took charge.

Anderson (Dover Centre, Ont.) scored a game-high 35 points, taking over the game to lift the Western Mustangs to a 83-75 win over McMaster at Alumni Hall on Feb. 10.

She carried her Mustangs, scoring 24 of her points in the second half, including back-to-back threes with just under three minutes remaining to put the game out of reach and complete a 13-4 run.

The fifth-year guard added three rebounds, four assists, and three steals to help Western improve to 15-4 on the season, solidifying their hold on second place in the OUA West. 

Following the game, Anderson continued to fight - this time to hold back tears. But an emotional Seniors Night speech from Mustangs head coach Stephan Barrie, honouring "one of the greatest Mustangs of all time", put her over the edge.

Joined by her parents and sister on the floor, Barrie said Anderson "fights like it was her life on the line."
"That's what separates here from most of her peers," Barrie said.

The Mustangs also honoured five-year forward Lauren Parkes (London, Ont.). Both players were recruited by former Mustangs coach Mike Milne whom Barrie also commended in his speech.

With Windsor defeating Waterloo 66-61, the Lancers wrap up first overall in the OUA West at 18-1.
Western can finish in second place in the OUA West with one more win, which would give them a first-round bye through to the division semifinals.

With the loss, McMaster falls to 11-8.

Anderson, who nearly doubled her points-per-game average on the season against the Marauders, is now 19 points off the No. 3 spot in OUA career scoring, entering Saturday's Feb. 13 contest at Waterloo with 1,583 career points.

RMC's Jennifer Donofrio is currently in third place in OUA career scoring with 1,602 points while and Brock's Jodie Ebeling is in second spot with 1,624.

Anderson trails the No. 2 spot held by Ebeling by just 41 points. With three games remaining, Anderson would need to average just under 14 points per game to move into second in all-time OUA career scoring.

The Marauders came out hot, shooting 47% in the first half. Despite the absence of guards Rebecca Rewi (Ancaster, Ont.) and Taylor Chiarot (Hamilton, Ont.), McMaster had clutch play from freshman Emily Leger (Hamilton, Ont.). 

Leger was 4/4 in the opening quarter and finished the first half with 12 points, going 5/7 from the floor. She was held scoreless, in foul trouble, with three personal fouls late in the half.

The Mustangs struggled to shoot consistently in the opening half, and Anderson was cold shooting 2/8. But her shots were timely, to end McMaster runs with two clutch treys in the second quarter.

Western trailed 37-30 at the half, after trailing by as much as 11 points in the first quarter.

But it was a tale of two halves, as Anderson and the Mustangs exploded in the second for 53 points, including five three-pointers, four from Anderson alone.

Western held McMaster to just 38 points in the second half and the Mustangs shot 51.4% from the floor - 62.5% from three-point range - in the final 20 minutes.

Katelyn Leddy (London, Ont.) added 17 points and five rebounds for Western, while Jacklyn Selfe (Burlington, Ont.) had 10 points and eight boards for the Mustangs. Kelly Moulden (Dundas, Ont.) played in limited action coming back from knee injury.

Western travels for a 12 p.m. contest on Saturday Feb. 13 at Waterloo and then closes out the regular season with two games at Lakehead, Feb. 19 and 20 at 6 p.m. in Thunder Bay, Ont.