Box Score THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women's basketball team ended their doubleheader weekend against the Lakehead Thunderwolves with an 84-75 win on Saturday evening.
 
Lakehead, this year's host team of the annual two-game weekend series, seemed set to make noise by sweeping the Western Mustangs right out of Thunder Bay after beating the purple and white by 16 points on Friday night to hand the Mustangs what was only their third loss of the season.
 
This time around, the Western squad responded with a gritty performance, relying on significantly improved shooting efforts from both the starting unit and the bench.

Coming off of one of her toughest outings of the season, Mustangs captain Jenny Vaughan responded with 24 points to lead the game, a number familiar to the guard who has been one of the CIS's top scorers in her past few seasons with the Mustangs.
 
Lakehead was led by Ayse Kalkan and new acquisition Jylisa Williams with 19 points apiece. The Thunderwolves have leaned heavily on Williams, a Georgia native and former NCAA player, since she became eligible for OUA play. Her usage rate has topped the team since her arrival but an inefficient eight-for-23 night from the floor with only four free-throw attempts proved to be part of the downfall for a Lakehead team looking to once again establish itself as a power-player in women's basketball.
 
The Mustangs had a challenging night on the glass, giving up 37 rebounds to Lakehead while claiming only 28 rebounds of their own, but Mustangs forward Melissa Rondinelli found some rhythm, totaling 18 points on the evening and going two-for-five from the three-point territory.
 
Kalkan and Thunderwolves forward Essa Jacobsen corralled 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, while Western's Katelyn Leddy led the Mustangs with nine rebounds, nearly missing out on a double-double box score.
 
Though the team rebounding numbers have dropped off this weekend in Thunder Bay, Rondinelli and Leddy were instrumental in stopping the Thunderwolves from getting their shots off in the post; Lakehead totaled only 10 points between their own starting front-court duo on nine shots.
 
Crucial to the Mustangs' victory was a big night from first-year London-native Mackenzie Puklicz. The versatile guard had Western's second-highest point total with 19, lighting up the Thunderwolves with five three-pointers in only 24 minutes of court-time. Puklicz is a true wild-card for the Mustangs in their bid to unseat the Windsor Lancers as OUA champions this season. The highly prized recruit has been effective when playing with both the starting unit and off the bench for a quick burst of energy, amassing a respectable 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in only 20.3 minutes of action.
 
With the victory the Mustangs move to 11-3 on the season, good for third in the OUA West standings behind the likes of Windsor and Laurier.

The Mustangs will soon have their chance to move up the standings when they host the Windsor Lancers on January 22 at Alumni Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.