Box Score For at least one cold November night, the Western Mustangs would look the part of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ literature’s classic tale of a man of control and reason trapped in the same body as his unpredictable and wild alter-ego.

Ultimately, the Western Mustangs reigned victorious over the Ryerson Rams with a final score of 63 – 55.

Just don’t expect Head Coach Brian Cheng to be too smitten with the result.

“You have got to give credit to Ryerson. Ryerson’s a good team. I think people thought 'they have a new coach; they lost their best player.' People thought they were down and out,” explained the second-year Mustang Coach.

“I told my team that the teams who have lost to Ryerson are the teams that don’t respect them or honour what they have and what they can do.”

At times, the Mustangs looked their very best, dominating the visiting Ryerson Rams at both ends of the court. During a long period spanning from the end of the first quarter until late in the second quarter, Western scored 14 unanswered points.

The Mustangs’ collective defense during the stretch was impressive, shutting down the Rams’ pathway to the net and disrupting shot opportunities all over the court.

Then ‘Mr. Hyde’ would rear his ugly head.

An effective series of refocusing timeouts called by first-year Rams’ Head Coach Carly Clarke would breathe life back into the resuscitated Ryerson squad. Though Western had been a dam on defense earlier in the game, they became a sieve at the end of the second quarter, allowing Ryerson its own 10-point unanswered run.

While shooting only 28.9% from the field in the first half, the Rams capitalized on 16 sloppy Mustang turnovers to outshoot Western by a wide margin, 38 attempts to 21.

Both teams looked capable of seizing control of the game at any time yet were unable to overcome early miscues, leading to a surprisingly even 30 – 24 lead at the half for the Mustangs.

In the third quarter of action, Western showed better ball-control and cut down on turnovers while their opponents began showing better proficiency from the field. Ryerson outscored Western for the first time in a quarter with a slim 19 – 18 advantage, cutting the Mustangs’ lead to 48 – 43 and ensuring a close finish.

The Mustangs would denied the opportunity for a big Ryerson comeback, maintaining their strong defense to the final whistle.

The early high and low extremes displayed by Western tonight will become an afterthought as the schedule continues to move along, especially with the shine from their now two-game winning-streak lifting spirits around Alumni Hall.

The realist perspective in the locker room is one of earnest positivity.

“If we can stay ahead of the pack, we will keep winning games,” said Cheng.

To keep winning, Cheng feels the Mustangs will need to keep making strides on the boards and cut back on costly turnovers.

“If you are at Monday’s practice, you’ll know how big the focus will be on ball-control. Controlling the turnovers is going to be huge. We were too careless with the ball, too casual and that is my fault. We need to get more disciplined with that,” he said.

Veteran guard Jenny Vaughan carried the team with a game-high 21 points, with Annabel Hancock adding 16 points and guard Laura Dally adding 12 of her own.

Dally and second-year forward Jory McDonald led the game with eight rebounds apiece, with Vaughan adding six of her own.

While being the team’s top scorer – and one of the best in the OUA – Vaughan knows that it will take determined defense to continue the team’s hot-streak.

 “(Coach) Brian is really keen on trying to get three stops in a row. When we’re in that mindset then all of a sudden you realize that we have a great offensive team. When we’re getting stops and not letting them buy (easy) baskets, we can really start to command the lead.”

Rounding out the first part of the season is the Mustangs’ final game before the holiday break, a Saturday evening game December 1^st at Queen’s University.

Vaughan sees the possibility of a result similar to tonight.

“Queen’s is a good team with a lot of heart. They’re one of those teams like Ryerson in a lot of ways where if we come out flat, we’re going to be down really fast. As long as we’re focused, I think we should come back with a win.”

Tip-off is at 6:00 PM next Saturday in Kingston, Ontario.