Third quarter comeback not enough as Mustangs fall 64-74 to the Voyageurs

Box Score The Western Mustangs (2-2) women's basketball team finished its first road trip of the year with a tough loss to the Laurentian Voyageurs (2-2) last night, with a final score of 64-74 in the home team's favour.

After being outscored 47 – 28 in the first half, the Mustangs would attempt a comeback through improved play in the third quarter but would ultimately fall short of the Voyos.

Veteran guard Jenny Vaughan took nearly a third of Western's shot opportunities in the game, leading to a team-high 24 points on 9-for-20 shooting, including two three-pointers. The results on offense were positive in the wake of a subdued outing in a win over York the previous night.

Vaughan had been leading the OUA in scoring per game as the Mustangs hit the road for the two-game swing.

It was another player, however, who stole the spotlight in Sudbury. Voyageur Sasha Polishchuk scored an incredible 38 points against the Mustangs on 15 for 34 shooting from the field – including 6 for 14 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Polishchuk rounded out her game with 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

With the Mustangs seemingly unable to stop the focal point of the Voyos' offense, the early first-half lead would prove insurmountable.

Forward Melissa Rondinelli paced the Mustangs with nine rebounds, with teammate Laura Dally adding seven of her own.

After splitting the results in the first two weekends of regular season action, Coach Brian Cheng and the Mustangs will look inwards and take the upcoming week to examine their strengths and weaknesses as a team.

With encouraging wins the past two Fridays in Alumni Hall versus the reigning OUA Champion Ottawa Gee-Gees and at York, the team has shown an ability to hang tough with gritty opponents. On the other hand, the ‘Stang-Gang has been unable to taste victory in the second game of its first two weekend double-headers, with losses to Carleton and now, Laurentian.

Full coverage of the Western Mustangs returns next weekend with crucial home games against the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. The first test comes against the Varsity Blues on Friday the 23^rd with the Rams coming to Alumni Hall Saturday the 24^th. Both games tip-off at 6:00 PM.

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