Box Score LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs continue to build the case for OUA superiority with a dominant schooling of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs, 88-53 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.

With the win the Mustangs pushed their winning-streak to six games since their season-opening loss to Ottawa back on November 1.

Like a canoe set adrift, the Voyageurs lacked the focus and perseverance of their namesake, unable to overcome the early storm of the Mustangs' offence, led admirably by fifth-year veteran Jenny Vaughan.

18 first-half points from the captain allowed the Mustangs to race out to a 51-22 halftime lead, one that would never be challenged.

Vaughan finished with a game-high 24 points, including 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. The Voyageurs were led by forward Mary Scott with 14 points off the bench.

Fifth-year forward Melissa Rondinelli recorded a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Mustangs.

Not only did Western pound the paint for a 38-8 advantage but veteran guard Kelsey Wright and dynamic first-year Mackenzie Puklicz combined for 6-of-13 from three-point territory in the game.

Western head coach Brian Cheng was quick to emphasize the room for improvement, despite his team's early season success.

 "We're trying to work on establishing our defence and rebounding. I thought our offence sputtered a little at the beginning – it was low scoring at first. I thought our defence did the job early and we just exploded like we can and we rallied around there."

And he's quick to shut-down any talk of win streaks until the team really proves itself; coach Cheng demands everything be kept in perspective

"We only won one game. We're 1-0 today and tomorrow we could be 0-1. We're as good as our last game."

Game by game, the Mustangs' offence seems to find new ways to improve. Low shooting percentages that previously permeated entire games this season have steadily improved since day one, becoming one of the strengths of this unit. Every woman on the floor gives the impression that they know exactly where they should be on any given play, with complete offensive breakdowns fewer and further in-between.

With a their large lead cemented early, Cheng had the opportunity to try out many of his new recruits alongside his established veterans. For a sequence of plays in the first half, Vaughan led her underclassmen Puklicz, Victoria Heine, Abigail Kuhn and Louise Bunce in several minutes of needed playing-time. The continued development of the first-year talent will be a needed boost for the purple and ehite as they begin to size-up the potential of postseason play.

"There's a big discrepancy between our young forwards and our fifth-year forwards," said coach Cheng. "It's like school: it's like jumping from grade seven to grade twelve. The gap is a little bit closer – I think our posts can play. Our first-year players are working really hard and there's a lot of potential there."

The Mustangs look to finish off their weekend slate with a match-up versus OUA basketball newcomer, Algoma University; the Thunderbirds came into this weekend winless and Western will hope to add to their growing pains. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Alumni Hall and fans can watch live on Mustangs TV.