TORONTO - Once again, the Western Mustangs impressed with tight fourth quarter play to make things interesting, but couldn't climb their way on top as they fell to the Ryerson Rams by a 67-56 score on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
 
Caroline Wolynski led all Mustangs scorers with 15 points and five steals, while first-year Maddy Horst was close behind with ten points and six rebounds. Keneca Pingue-Giles led all scorers with 18 points for the Rams.
 
Trouble started early on for the Mustangs, who drew calls on travelling, three in the key, and a back court violation. These turnovers led to a successful scoring run for the Rams who took an early 5-0 lead. The first Mustang point would not come until nearly five minutes into the game when Sasha Samardzija hooked one up from the paint. Although Western only scored seven points in the first quarter, their zone defense held the Rams to within seven.
 
It looked like momentum was shifting in the second quarter for the Mustangs, with great offensive play from Horst, who scored six straight points in the middle of the quarter, and Wolynski, whose strong dribbling game allowed her to effortlessly slice through the Rams' defence. However, the Rams countered with veteran Pingue-Giles, who shut down Western's run with continuous and aggressive drives through the middle lanes to get the ball up for good baskets. After 20 minutes of play the home side took a 35-20 lead into halftime.
 
After the half, the Mustangs looked to settle down after giving up turnovers on bad passes and travelling calls. The Rams kept offensive pressure on, though, moving the ball quickly around the perimeter to scramble the Mustang defence. Wolynski recovered the tone, leading nearly every Mustang possession for the quarter. She and Horst together accounted for 21 points by the end of the third, but still trailed 55-34
 
Things started to go right in the fourth quarter when nearly every shot put up by the Mustangs seemed to drop in the basket. Their luck combined with a Rams offence that had trouble converting their possessions, leading to the Mustangs going on a 7-0 run to start the quarter.
 
But foul trouble would keep them down in more ways than one. In bonus territory, the Mustangs missed free throw attempts that could have made up even more ground on the Rams. On the other side of the court, the Rams aggressive drives to the rim drew contact fouls and subsequent trips to the free throw line to maintain their lead. Although they shortened the gap to nine points, the Mustangs couldn't get a solid possession in the last minute of play to complete their comeback.
 
The Mustangs will try again on the road on Saturday, November 15, when they visit the Toronto Varsity Blues at 6 p.m. Fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv