LONDON, Ont. - On the hunt for their second home win in a row, the Western Mustangs women's basketball team came out aggressively against the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees. But Ottawa's strong offence would leave the Mustangs with a 79-43 loss Friday night at Alumni Hall.
With the loss Western moves to 3-9 on the season and remains tied for third place in the OUA West division. Ottawa extends their record to 8-4 and continues to sit in first place in the OUA North division
Western had three players putting up double digits with points as Mackenzie Puklicz led the way with 13, followed by Maddy Horst with 12, while Caroline Wolynski rounded out the list with 10.
Although they were able to collaboratively take down 23 off the glass, the Mustangs ran into trouble on the boards as only one of those rebounds was on the offensive side.
Head coach Brian Cheng said that finishing off possessions is integral to both the defence and the offence."We didn't get the offensive rebounds," he said. "That puts us in a position where we're playing transition defence, and that's tough to do."
The Mustangs kept Ottawa's defence on its toes to start the first quarter, moving the ball dizzily around their end of the court. Their quick movements allowed Horst to sneak to the corner unguarded to make a comfortable three-point basket for the first points of the game. Horst led scoring in the quarter with her aggressive drives to the basket and another smooth three-pointer to help put the Mustangs up 17-12 at the end of the first frame.
The Mustangs went into the second quarter shooting 41% from the field compared to the 21% effort put together by the GeeGees. But the visitors, led by Ottawa guard Stephanie MacDonald, started to crack through and shine offensively. MacDonald, who ranks top-five in OUA scoring, put up 10 in the second quarter to help Ottawa pull ahead with a 36-27 lead at the halfway mark.
After the halftime break, the Gee-Gees went straight on the attack with their first three scoring chances translating for nine points. The first Western points for the second half came after nearly four minutes when Horst took matters into her own hands and ran the full court from the inbound for an aggressive layup. Western was able to sneak through the offence a few times during the quarter but only for six points. The score favoured Ottawa 55-33 at the end of the third.
The Gee-Gee offence did not let up in the fourth, as they matched their second quarter output with 24 points. They were able to hold the Mustangs to 10 for the last frame, and ultimately left victorious, 79-43.
As the women prepare for their next game, head coach Cheng says his team will have to play consistent defence and hone in on their strengths to match up against the defensively sound Ravens. "Every game is a learning experience. We have to find out what the positives are and focus on that."
The Mustangs will take on the Carleton Ravens Saturday, January 24 at Alumni Hall. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on OUA.tv.
