Box Score LONDON, Ont. – The good times keep on rolling for the Mustangs, as they extend their win-streak to seven games with a big win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds, 78-38.

With the win Western retains retains its share of first place in the OUA West with a 7-1 record while the Thunderbirds remain winless in their first season in OUA basketball, falling to 0-8.

Evident in the tilt were two teams that could not be further apart in their development: Western's win-now team looking to make some noise with its stable of strong upperclassmen, and Algoma looking to establish a winning culture. Coach Brian Cheng's Mustangs have had their fair share of growing pains; now it's Algoma coach Ryan Vetrie's turn to take the bumps and bruises.

"Give credit to [Coach Vetrie] and his program," said coach Cheng. "Their kids worked very hard. I don't think the score was indicative of that and they didn't always get rewarded for their hard work. Sometimes I think they worked harder than we did."

Things were not pretty for the Thunderbirds early on. By the second half, the Mustangs had more than doubled Algoma's shooting-percentage 45.5% to 21.2% and led 40-20.

While the Mustangs' offence slowed down as the game progressed, the purple and white locked things down at the other end of the floor. The Thunderbirds' offence sputtered to nine and eight points in the second and third quarter, respectively. With the Mustangs' forward rotation of Melissa Rondinelli, Katelyn Leddy and Victoria Heine denying easy entry in the paint, Algoma settled for deeper shots that ultimately did little to spark the offence. The Thunderbirds would leave the game with a team shooting-percentage of 17.9% from three-point territory on 28 shots.

It was not in the game-plan to force Algoma to live and die on its three-point accuracy but coach Cheng will take the final result.

"I think it comes down to Algoma making decisions that they're just going to get some shots up and attack us through the shot penetration," coach Cheng explained of  his team's defensive success. "I thought we got our hands up to challenge everything and make it harder for them."

Rondinelli would lead the game yet again in rebounding with 13 boards while her veteran running-mate Vaughan led the game with a quiet 24 points. Algoma would be led by eight points off the bench from Jenni Thompson and nine rebounds from Karissa Kajorinne.

These 'Birds may not be ready to leave the nest quite yet, but that's okay; no one expected a playoff contender in the program's inaugural season.

"[Coach Ryan Vetrie] and I go way back," said Coach Cheng of his contemporary. "He's an old University of Victoria guy and so am I. His father was a coach and he's a good young coach too. He's working hard to build a program there. There's nothing I need to tell him that he doesn't already know. It's going to be a slow build, but he's persevering and doing it the right way and that program is going to continue to build into a contender."

The Mustangs will try to push the streak to eight games as they take on powerhouse Brock at Alumni Hall on Wednesday, November 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and fans can watch all the action live on Mustangs TV.