The Western Mustangs women's basketball team comes off last weekend's northern road trip with a win and loss at Nipissing and Laurentian, respectively. Mackenzie Puklicz came up with 27 points in the lopsided 96-38 victory at Nipissing on February 6 and on the following day helped her team stage an impressive comeback that came up just one point short at Laurentian in a close 59-60 defeat.
 
Saturday, February 14 – at Lakehead Thunderwolves at 6 p.m. - Watch at OUA.tv
 
This will be a light week for the purple and white who only have one game on tap against the Lakehead Thunderwolves this Saturday. Lakehead tops the OUA Central Division with a 12-4 record, thanks in part to the dominance of guard Jylisa Williams.
 
On February 6, Williams broke the nearly 35 year single game scoring record for OUA women by putting up 50 points in a victory over the Varsity Blues. One of the league's top players, Williams averages an OUA-leading 29.1 points per game, is second in rebounds with 9.3 per game, and shoots an impressive 53.4% from the field. It is no wonder she received the honour of Pioneer Energy OUA Athlete of the Week for the week of February 2.
 
Lakehead's eight-game winning streak came to an end in their last outing on February 7 when they suffered an 83-75 loss at the hands of the CIS number seven ranked Ryerson Rams. In that game, Williams was still able to put up 24 points in just 26 minutes of playing time.
 
If the Mustangs cannot figure out how to shut down Williams, they will need to fight back with an impressive offensive run. Puklicz, Caroline Wolynski, Maddy Horst and Victoria Heine all put up double digits in points scored in their outing against Nipissing on February 6, while finding their groove late in the game against Laurentian.
 
Lakehead is a resilient team who will have to be contested for the full 40 minutes. Thankfully, the purple and white have received solid bench support in their last few games in the form of Meredith McLeod and Sam Loucks. McLeod has continued to impress defensively with a persistent intensity that helped her garner six steals and four rebounds in the outing against Laurentian. Loucks, meanwhile, has been comfortable shooting from the field with 60% accuracy to accrue 16 points over her last two games. With playoffs spots on the horizon, the Mustangs will no doubt be looking to close any gaps in their strategy to win this ball game.