THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The temperature outside may have been cold, but the Lakehead Thunderwolves heated up enough to hand a 71-45 loss to the Western Mustangs women's basketball team in Thunder Bay on Saturday night.
 
Victoria Heine led the Mustangs in scoring with 11 points, and was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. Caroline Wolynski put up eight points while Meredith McLeod rounded out the scoring with seven points on the night.
 
With a record of 6-12, the Mustangs stay in third place in the OUA West division, just slightly ahead of the Waterloo Warriors. At 13-4, the Thunderwolves sit in a tie for first in the OUA North.
 
Western kept the score close in the first quarter, thanks in part to the all-around hustle put forth by McLeod. Her defensive pressure forced a turnover that she converted for a good layup, and later forced the Lakehead offence into a back court violation. She was also effective on the other side of the court, making an impressive back cut to go up for a post shot that tied the game at 10. McLeod and Wolynski led scoring in the quarter with four points each, but Lakehead put together a few plays to end the first frame for a 14-10 lead.
 
When the second quarter came, the Thunderwolves tweaked their defense enough to ensure that the Mustangs did not have enough room to do much of anything. Western struggled with shot clock violations, and even acquired a few inbound and back court violations. A breakaway layup attempt by Mackenzie Puklicz was shot down by Katelyn Andrea who nipped at her heels the whole way. This defensive pressure saw the gap widen to 32-20 for the Thunderwolves at the end of the half.
 
Knowing they had to make adjustments for the second half, the Mustangs came out swinging to start, with Victoria Heine putting away a good jumper from deep in two-point territory. But that just seemed to fuel the Thunderwolves' drive, as OUA scoring leader Jylisa Williams heated up offensively while her teammates countered Western offensives with an effective full-court press, which contributed to more turnovers. Lakehead took a 52-30 as the match headed into the final quarter.
 
The fourth quarter saw Williams continue her offensive dominance, leading to her 28 point total by the game's end. But this didn't slow down Heine who remained resilient on the glass and took a hit while setting up a screen that translated to two good free throws. Despite their best efforts, the Mustangs fell in the end with Lakehead taking a 71-45 victory.
 
Western will return to Alumni Hall on Wednesday, February 18 for their final home game of the regular season. They take on the CIS number six ranked Laurier Golden Hawks at 6:00 p.m., and the action can be caught live on OUA.tv.