The Western Mustangs basketball teams return to Alumni Hall on January 5 not only for their first home games of the second half but for an important cause. The purple and white team kicks off the second half of its competitive season on home court against the red and white Brock Badgers, but pink ribbons will wave amongst both teams as the women participate in this year’s CIS Shoot for the Cure initiative to contribute to breast cancer research and awareness.
 
Shoot for the Cure has proven an overwhelming success since it was launched in the fall of 2007 with over half a million dollars ($512,394.58) in donations to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and other related charities in its first five editions.

In 2011-12, which marked the first time all CIS women’s basketball programs participated in the initiative, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association presented a cheque for $98,706.92 to the Foundation and an additional $22,541.78 was donated to local or provincial organizations, bringing the Shoot for the Cure’s overall total to $121,248.70.
 
The Mustangs enter the back half of the OUA circuit in third place in the OUA west division, winning four out of their first seven contests. At its home-opening game in November, Western defeated top-OUA team Ottawa Gee Gees in a close, rivaled match, and have since used that momentum to beat the triad of Toronto schools: York Lions, U of T Varsity Blues, and Ryerson Rams.
 
Fourth-year veteran guard Jenny Vaughan is ranked second in the OUA for 18 points per game, a 44.0 field goal percentage, and 127 points this season to date. The Sarnia, Ontario native won the Lesley Petter scholarship at Medway High School in November for her on and off-court leadership, and looks to bring experience to the paint this semester to guide the team to the CIS Top 8 playoff round.
 
Teammate Laura Dally is also a top contender in the OUA ranks, finishing the with 34.1 minutes per game and contributing 91 points – averaging 13 points per game. Jory McDonald is not only Western’s top defensive force with 7.1 rebounds per game and 34 total defensive rebounds, preventing second chance scoring opportunities, but also leads the league in field goal percentage – shooting at 64% in seven games played.
 
The home team faced tough losses to Carleton, Queen’s, and Laurentian in the season’s first half and now looks to the entire team – including rookies Camilla Paluch and German exchange student Mara Greunke – to rise to the occasion to push the OUA standings and become a league threat.
 
The Brock Badgers are undefeated so far this season with a 7-0 record and sit tenth in the CIS, but sit just above the Mustangs in second place in the OUA West. The Badgers have a strong 440 goals for versus 351 against, and look to top player Nicole Rosenkranz with 101 points to date for leadership in the team’s perfect performance thus far. Rosenkranz is a both an offensive and defensive threat, ranked ninth in the league for rebounds and 32^nd overall in the CIS.
 
Badger teammates Kayla Santilli and Andrea Polischuk have also contributed on the defensive front, each with 16 steals in seven games played. Samantha Dejong also posted 7 key blocks last term to contribute to Brock’s defensive prowess.
 
Tip off is at 1:00pm on Saturday, January 5 at Alumni Hall.

(with files from CIS)