Box Score KINGSTON, Ont. - It is going to be one long bus ride back to London.

It usually is when a team opens the first quarter of a basketball game by being outscored 22 – 3. The pain of defeat is made worse when it is at the hands of the archrival ‘Tri Colour’ Queen’s Gaels. The Mustangs now fall to 4 - 3 on the season after being outdone by Queen’s with a final score of 72 – 53.

Kingston-native Jory McDonald finally broke the Mustangs’ lengthy scoring drought with a hard-fought layup in traffic with 3:07 remaining in the first frame of action. By then, the Gaels had already abused Western up and down the court to the tune of 20 unanswered points.

“I thought we came out very flat and I thought Queen’s took advantage of us. We put ourselves 22 to 3 down. That’s a pretty big hole,” said Head Coach Brian Cheng after the game, denoting the regret of a game lost early.

“We played pretty much even the rest of the way.”

Western would find relative success after their rough first quarter. The second quarter was marked by even basketball, with Queen’s just edging Western in scoring, 14 – 12, bolstering their formidable lead.

Facing a 21-point deficit heading into the second half would be only one obstacle facing the Mustangs. First, they would need to forget their earlier miscues and begin playing tenacious, mistake-free basketball.

That meant no more sloppy passes as the Gaels scored 16 points off of Western turnovers in the first half. In contrast, Western scored only 4 points off of turnovers in the same span. A discrepancy like that early in the game can kill even the best of teams.

“We can still be down,” said Coach Cheng. “We just need to get some stops and start digging into the lead. Get stops, then score. It’s pretty simple. We needed to rebound to do that. I thought we were inconsistent in all three categories.”

If the Western women had been feeling high and mighty after their solid start, Queen’s seems to have provided the right prescription to refocus the Mustangs and remind them of what it takes to be successful in the OUA.

“(The Gaels) played like women today. They owned the paint. They dominated the boards. They took position with physicality. They played extremely tough. They played like women. So, hats off to Queen’s,” praised Coach Cheng.

“I thought we took a big humble pill. Once we decided to swallow it, we were in a position where now we have got to fight back. In this league, you cannot dig yourself such a big hole and then try and pull a rabbit out of a hat.”

Third-year guard Laura Dally led the team with 14 points and six rebounds. Veteran Jenny Vaughan was just behind with 13 points to go along with five assists.

Queen’s had three players score at least 16 points, showing their depth and versatility, led by player of the game, Jenny Wright with 17 points. Liz Boag had nine points and 11 assists while running point for the Gaels.

And just like that, the first portion of the ladies’ season is over.

The purple heroes of the hardwood return after the holiday break to take on the Guelph Gryphons on Thursday, January 3rd. Tip-off will be at 6:00 PM in Guelph. The team then returns home on January 5 for their annual Shoot for the Cure game to help raise money for breast cancer research.

From everyone at Mustangs Basketball and WesternMustangs.ca we would like to wish all of our friends, family and supporters a safe and happy holiday season.