Mustangs win nail-biting home opener against defending OUA Champions

Box Score If the Mustangs needed any indication of the level of play in the OUA this year, the team certainly received a reminder from its season-opening bout with the defending OUA Champions Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday night.

The Mustangs’ 74 – 72 win over Ottawa was no short of a nail-biter.

Fittingly, last year’s All-Star guard Jenny Vaughan opened scoring for the Mustangs, hitting both of her free-throw attempts to open the doors for a high-scoring affair. Vaughan played all forty minutes, scoring an incredible game-high 28 points on seven for 14 shooting, including 14 of 15 attempts from the foul line.

“I want to be on the floor. I’m obviously tired but I’d be going crazy on the bench. Hopefully I only play 20 minutes tomorrow because we’re up by so much,” Vaughan joked. “I was just taking what the defense was giving me. You know what, that’s fine – I can find other ways to create (opportunities).”

Four Mustangs finished with double-digit scoring figures, including Dally Rondinelli and the sharp-shooting Annabel Hancock with 14 points apiece.

The Gee-Gees annually field one of Ontario’s top basketball programs and hold claim to several players with exceptional size and ability to hit the boards hard.

On the other hand, Western is coming off an 11 – 11 season and despite a playoff win over McMaster last season, will need to continue to fight hard to overcome their lack of size upfront.

Coach Brian Cheng summed up the wild, back-and-forth game.

“We have a lot of things to continue to work on. It’s early in the season. For us to make the amount of mistakes that we made and still get the victory puts value into the work that we’re doing,” said Coach Cheng.

“We’re building a culture here.”

If Western fights for the ball as they did tonight, success in the win-column should follow.
Even Goliath can be overcome if the right stones are thrown.

In this case, the ‘stones’ took the form of an offense that combined the Mustangs’ usual outside shooting touch with an aggressive approach in all facets of the game.

The underlying contribution of third-year guard Laura Dally, fourth-year forward Melissa Rondinelli and second-year forward Jory McDonald in the middle of the game helped anchor Western’s attack while allowing Vaughan to go to work, filling the basket with shots upon shots.

McDonald in particular had a solid contribution off the bench. In only 6 minutes of relief-play mostly coming in the second quarter, the physical McDonald had five rebounds and showed greater awareness on the defensive end, stripping a slashing Gee-Gee on a lay-up attempt and fighting hard for every loose ball. Unfortunately, her propensity to foul would limit her second-half minutes. Still, McDonald appeared calmer and more confident in her play.

“She’s a physical force,” said coach Cheng. “We want her to be a little more balanced so that she doesn’t get called with so many fouls.”

McDonald combined with starters Rondinelli and Dally for nine of the Mustangs’ 22 first-half rebounds. The Gee-Gees only managed 12 boards despite their size advantage. Yet a strong second-half by the Gee-Gees’ forwards would cut their rebounding deficit to two at the game’s end.

Coach Cheng insists that rebounding needs to be a team effort this season.

“We have to rebound as a team. It’s like a dam; if we have five holes plugged up, the dam is going to hold but if one person stops, the dam starts leaking. That’s what happened down the stretch; the dam started leaking,” explained Cheng.

A 13 – 7 turnover advantage in favour of Ottawa would keep the game even at the half, despite Western’s advantage on the boards and 55.6% field-goal accuracy. The Mustangs would hold a slim 39 – 38 lead after 20 minutes of action.

The Mustangs started the third-quarter with an undersized frontcourt. Rondinelli and McDonald checked back into the game in time for an eight-point run to end the quarter and to reclaim a 55 – 53 lead.

With neither team willing to give up the first chance for a win in the new 2012-2013 season, the teams would ensure a dramatic finish, trading buckets and hard-fouls all the way to the final whistle.

Vaughan gave the hometown crowd a little more room to breathe, hitting a free-throw attempt after a successful two-pointer with hard contact on the play. Those crucial points were three of ten during a game-clinching scoring run where the Gee-Gees were unable to eke out a single point.

The Mustangs lead 67 – 61 with two minutes to play. After a made-basket by Ottawa, Vaughan would hit two more free-throws, sealing the victory for the Mustangs.
McDonald and Dally led the Mustangs with seven rebounds each.

While any victory is something to relish, an equally tough challenge awaits tonight night.

The Mustangs will test themselves against yet another OUA powerhouse in the Carleton Ravens November 10^th at Alumni Hall. Tip-off is at 6:00 at Alumni Hall.

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